Rumors continue to swirl about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard‘s future as critics on Wednesday slammed her testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, especially when she declared that it is not the Intelligence Community’s “responsibility” to determine what constitutes an imminent national security threat — a claim that received tremendous blowback.
“Was it the assessment of the Intelligence Community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?” asked U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
“The Intelligence Community assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment capability,” Gabbard replied.
“Was it the assessment of the Intelligence Community that there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime, yes or no?” Ossoff pressed.
“Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president,” Gabbard responded.
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“False,” Ossoff replied. “This is the worldwide threats hearing where you present to Congress national intelligence, timely, objective, and independent of political considerations.”
Podcaster Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and founder of a veterans nonprofit, slammed Gabbard’s remarks.
“I don’t think she survives this,” Rieckhoff wrote. “She’s already not trusted in Trump world as a former Democrat. And not trusted by most people period. Sooner or later, Trump is gonna dump her and blame her.”
“But like Noem, Hegseth, and so many others, she shouldn’t have been there in [the] first place,” he added. “And anyone who voted for her is responsible for this mess now. It’s all coming to the fore now. They are all being revealed. That’s what war does. Especially forever war that is now overflowing beyond US control. Our enemies are celebrating yet again. And we are all less safe. More and more by the minute.”
The Steady State, a group of 400 former national security officials, denounced Gabbard’s claim that “the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president.”
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The group called her remark “flatly incompatible with her statutory obligation to provide ‘timely, objective, and independent of political considerations’ national intelligence assessments of threats to Congress.”
Mark Seddon, a former speechwriter for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, called Gabbard’s testimony “devastating.”
“The fact that DNI Tulsi Gabbard does not believe it is the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine if a threat is imminent is disqualifying for her to be the National Intelligence Director,” wrote retired U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer Travis Akers. “That is one, among many, of the primary responsibilities of the IC.”
Ossoff: Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?
Gabbard: The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president. It is not the intelligence community’s… pic.twitter.com/agcse87TZI
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 18, 2026
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Image via Reuters