Tulsi Gabbard used to have a lot of friends in the House Democratic caucus. But now that she’s Donald Trump’s choice to oversee the U.S. intelligence agencies — after years of shifting rightward — those Democrats have gone silent or just fully had a change of heart.
“I spent a lot of time with Tulsi. You know, we were all part of, like, a big friend group, and I was surprised that she’s taken the turn that she has,” Rep. Marc Veasey told NOTUS. “I don’t think that she’s a good fit for that role.”
Gabbard — who represented Hawaii in the House for eight years and ran in the Democratic presidential primary in 2020 — became an independent in 2022 and officially announced her switch to the Republican Party at a Trump rally in October.
Trump said Gabbard has “broad support from both parties” in a statement last week announcing her as his choice for director of national intelligence.
But the support doesn’t reach as far as Gabbard’s former Democratic colleagues. NOTUS spoke with Democrats who served in Congress alongside Gabbard and expressed doubt that she’s the right candidate for the cabinet role overseeing the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies.
Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat who was in Gabbard’s congressional freshman class and was part of the Congressional Progressive Caucus at the same time as her, said he was confused by her nomination.
“I always kept an arm or two lengths away from her,” Pocan told NOTUS. “It’s an odd pick, I mean, given that was never her expertise.”
“She’s been all over the board politically, so I have no idea who she is, really, because she’s literally been everywhere,” he added.
Gabbard’s old friend group emerged largely from the House freshman class in 2013, where she formed long connections with her fellow Democratic new members. Veasey said Gabbard was also particularly close with several Republicans — including Michael Grimm and Kevin McCarthy, who were already serving when Gabbard entered the House.
But her place politically and socially has shifted since her run for president in 2020, especially following how she’s positioned herself on Russia.
“I think that our country would look weak if we’re going to bend that much of a knee towards Russia,” Veasey told NOTUS.
Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, told NOTUS in a statement that “just as the Democrats and the Washington Elite see President Trump as a threat to their unchecked power, they see Congresswoman Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard as a threat as well.”
“As DNI Director she will champion our constitutional rights and put an end to using intelligence agencies as weapons against the American people,” Henning’s statement said.
Rep. Scott Peters — who bonded with Gabbard during Capitol Hill workouts and told NOTUS he was Gabbard’s “buddy” when they served together in the House — also had concerns about Russia, saying that Gabbard “seems to be on the outside, and we’re going to put her on the inside.”
For Peters, concerns over Gabbard’s nomination highlight his long-standing worries about her turn to the right.
“She’s gone away,” he said. “I don’t understand it, but what I see concerns me.”
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who connected with Gabbard over their shared background as veterans, called Gabbard out this week in an op-ed for her “erratic behavior and frequent flip-flopping,” encouraging senators to vote against her nomination.
Criticism from these former friends isn’t entirely new — Kinzinger called Gabbard “crazy” last year over comments on Japan’s military, and the previous year, he called her “traitorous” for spreading misinformation about the existence of U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine.
But her cabinet nomination has unleashed a renewed wave of doubt and confusion from lawmakers over her changing policy stances.
“She’s not qualified,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth told NOTUS, echoing what several of her House counterparts said. “I would not let that person be holding on to our secrets.”
Duckworth was also part of Gabbard’s House freshman class, and they were the first female combat veterans to hold congressional office.
Gabbard’s ties to Syria have also agitated her onetime allies. Gabbard met with President Bashar al-Assad on a secret four-day trip to Syria in 2017, drawing ire from her colleagues on both sides of the aisle and from members of the Syrian American community.
It’s shaped up for a somewhat awkward confirmation process and not exactly the kind of bipartisan acclimation Trump suggested.
Sen. Cory Booker has publicly referred to Gabbard as a friend since before she took office, pitching her as a good fit for the Senate before she’d even reached the House. Gabbard has said the same about Booker, praising him after he ended his 2020 presidential campaign.
Asked about Gabbard’s nomination this week, Booker didn’t acknowledge their friendship.
“I’m looking forward to the process starting,” he said.
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Shifra Dayak is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.