President-elect Donald Trump nominated the former congresswoman for the role in November.
Former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for director of national intelligence (DNI), picked up a key endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC).
The NBPC
—a labor union representing
18,000 Border Patrol agents and support personnel across the country
—endorsed Gabbard in a on Dec. 17. letter addressed to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
Cotton is widely expected to be the next chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he would oversee national intelligence matters in the Senate, according to multiple reports.
His office has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
“I write to express our complete and total support for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), former U.S. Representative and Lieutenant Colonel Tulsi Gabbard,” the union’s president, Paul Perez, wrote in the
letter to Cotton. “We have no doubt that Lt. Col. Gabbard is the right person to be the DNI and will work tirelessly to keep our nation safe, just as she has done for the past two decades.”
Perez went on to tout Gabbard’s military service as a sign of her strong leadership. Gabbard
joined the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003 and transferred to the Army Reserve in 2020. She currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel.
During her time in the military, Gabbard witnessed firsthand “the threats posed by foreign terrorists and those who want to do America harm,” according to Perez.
Those threats are “more prevalent now than ever” in part due to the federal government’s border policies, he said.
The union boss said the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), led by the DNI, plays an “integral role” in securing the border from threats including transnational criminal organizations operating in North, Central, and South America, and foreign terrorist organizations.
Such hostile actors will “always attempt to exploit our unsecure borders to further their activities that threaten the American people,” he said. “In order to adequately confront these threats, the IC must have strong, courageous and competent leadership – that leader is Lt. Col. Gabbard.”
Trump
announced in November that he was nominating Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence role in his incoming administration.
“For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans,” Trump said in a statement shared by his campaign team. “As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties - She is now a proud Republican!”
Trump said that Gabbard will bring to the role “the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career” and will champion constitutional rights while “securing Peace through Strength.”
“Tulsi will make us all proud!” Trump said.
In the weeks since her nomination, Gabbard has been on Capitol Hill seeking to gain the backing of the Senate GOP conference. She also
met with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, hoping to gain their support.
While many Republicans have publicly expressed support for her, some senators have been
skeptical of her nomination amid what they say are concerns over her 2017 visit to Syria, where she met with then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In a
letter to Senate leaders last week, nearly 100 former officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations said they were alarmed by Gabbard’s nomination to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies and called for closed-door hearings to review the nomination.
They said her past actions “call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus.”
Gabbard has
described the visit to Syria as a “fact-finding mission.”
The former Hawaii congresswoman said she supports Trump’s stance that the United States should have no involvement in Syria, where Assad’s regime has now fallen.
On Dec. 9, Gabbard met with Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).
Ernst
described Gabbard as “a strong and proven leader,” and posted a photo of the two to social media platform X after their meeting.
Rounds said he was “looking forward to working with her as she continues to move through the confirmation process,” and described their meeting as “excellent.”
In a
post on X, Lankford said he and Gabbard had a great meeting.
Joseph Lord and Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.
