Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing, where she was pressed on her ties to the Assad regime, criticism of Trump’s Iran policy and her views on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which has served as a key surveillance method for the United States across the Middle East. 

In her opening statement, Gabbard spoke about accusations of ties to autocrats like now-ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “I have no love for Assad or [Libya's] Gaddafi or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaeda. I hate that we have leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists, minimizing them to so-called rebels." She took aim at the de facto government in Syria, headed by the leader of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who she said is "an Islamist jihadist who danced in the streets on 9/11.” 

Gabbard served as a Democratic congresswoman in Hawaii from 2013 to 2021 before switching parties in 2022 and becoming a supporter of Donald Trump. She is currently a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard and has been deployed twice to the Middle East. Her foreign policy positions have faced heavy criticism since she was selected by Trump shortly after the presidential election. In 2017, Gabbard visited Syria and met with Assad. Following the visit, she introduced a bill aimed at halting US aid to rebel groups fighting Assad’s regime.