Attorney General Pam Bondi officially swore in Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard as director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the Oval Office on Wednesday as President Donald Trump looked on.
Margo Martin, a special assistant to the president, tweeted a video of Bondi administering the oath to Gabbard.
Martin also shared footage of Trump signing Gabbard’s Commission for the role. Gabbard and her husband, Abraham Williams, joyfully took in the moment while standing in front of the newly-placed portrait of President Ronald Reagan that flanks Trump’s desk.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Gabbard hours earlier on Wednesday by a 52-48 vote. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined all 47 Democrats in opposing her confirmation, but all other Republicans voted to confirm her.
Interestingly, McConnell voted to confirm former President Joe Biden’s director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, in 2021.
McConnell also opposed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during his confirmation vote on the floor last month.
While Gabbard’s confirmation vote was close, Hegseth’s was even more dramatic. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) broke with McConnell and Democrats, leading to a 50-50 tie. Vice President JD Vance served as the tiebreaker, getting Hegseth over the finish line.
Collins, McConnell, and Murkowski all voted to approve former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after he was nominated by Biden.
Gabbard, formerly a Democrat, represented Hawaii’s Second Congressional District from 2013 to 2021. She served on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Homeland Security Committees. She has served in the Army National Guard, with multiple deployments to war zones, and is a battalion commander in the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.
Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, where she shined in debate exchanges with then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). In 2022, Gabbard announced she was leaving the Democrat party, saying it “is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness.”
She revealed she was joining the GOP in October 2024 at a Trump rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“I’m joining the party of the people, the party of equality, the party that was founded to fight against and end slavery in this country. It is the party of common sense and the party that is led by a president who has the courage and strength to fight for peace,” she said in part.
Jesus Christ is King
