Amid lively debate over the latest intelligence findings, the White House is gearing up to send four of its top national security leaders to Capitol Hill for a high-level briefing: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officials confirmed.
Conspicuously missing from the lineup, according to The Washington Post, is Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who earlier this year testified that U.S. intelligence agencies believed Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon.
Gabbard will not be attending the closed-door briefings scheduled for Thursday and Friday, where members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are set to receive updates on the recent U.S. strikes on Iran and the current state of its nuclear program. Instead, CIA Director John Ratcliffe is expected to take the lead in representing the intelligence community during the classified sessions. The briefings are seen as a critical moment for lawmakers to assess both the military and diplomatic implications of the administration’s latest moves in the region. Gabbard’s absence further signals her diminished role in shaping the White House’s Iran policy.
In March, Gabbard testified to Congress that the U.S. intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon,” adding that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was “unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”
After intense criticism from President Trump—who publicly declared she was “wrong”—Gabbard walked back that position in June. She affirmed she agreed with Trump that Iran could build a nuclear weapon “within weeks to months,” blaming the media for misrepresenting her earlier testimony.
Following the U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Gabbard endorsed Trump’s narrative that the facilities had been “destroyed” and would require years to rebuild. She criticized media reports suggesting only a short delay as “propaganda media” tactics.
Despite aligning with Trump publicly, the President is said to have “lost confidence” in her judgment on this issue.
PUT IT IN OUR LOSS COLUMN
Tulsi Gabbard’s loss of prestige is a loss for Israel. The new DNI director has been perfectly aligned with the Netanyahu government since October 7, 2023. Her position reflects a hardline stance that prioritizes Israel’s security over diplomatic efforts that, in her view, fail to address the root cause of the conflict.
Following the October 7 Hamas attack, Gabbard voiced strong support for Israel and unequivocally condemned Hamas, labeling it an “Islamist terrorist organization.” The former congresswoman reaffirmed her stance in November 2023 by attending the March for Israel on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., joining thousands in solidarity with the Jewish state.
Gabbard has sharply criticized pro-Hamas demonstrators in the U.S., describing them as “puppets of a radical Islamist organization.” She has also opposed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing that such measures would leave Hamas intact and allow the threat to persist. In a February interview posted to YouTube, she reiterated that Hamas is “a threat that needs to be defeated militarily and ideologically.”
When asked about the U.S. supporting a U.N. resolution advocating a ceasefire, Gabbard stressed the importance of strategic clarity. “We have to be realists about the threat that continues to exist for the people of Israel,” she said. “So as long as Hamas is in power, the people of Israel will not be secure and cannot live in peace.”
