Why She Made the List
As Director of National Intelligence she coordinates intelligence collection and analysis across the full breadth of the US intelligence community at a time of acute geopolitical competition, active conflict in the Middle East, and escalating cyber and technology threats from state adversaries.
In this cabinet-level role she oversees a community of eighteen agencies and a budget of more than one hundred billion dollars, and serves as the President’s principal intelligence adviser.
Summary Bio
Tulsi Gabbard is the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, the country’s most senior intelligence official, confirmed by the Senate in February 2025. She is the first female combat veteran to hold the position.
Gabbard served four terms as a United States Representative for Hawaii from 2013 to 2021 and remains a serving Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. Her military career has included a deployment to Iraq, where she received the Combat Medical Badge, and subsequent service in Kuwait.