Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, is expected on Capitol Hill to meet with senators this week, kicking off what will likely be a contentious confirmation process because of past comments the former congresswoman has made.

Gabbard — who served in the House for eight years as a Democrat — has drawn scrutiny for a 2017 trip she made to Syria to visit with Bashar al-Assad, comments she made about the dictator, and remarks she has said about the Russia-Ukraine war that were sympathetic to Moscow, raising questions about her ability to be confirmed in the Senate.

Her first conversations on Capitol Hill come just days after the Assad regime collapsed at the hands of Syrian rebels, driving the longtime dictator out of Damascus and prompting celebrations in Syria — a stunning chain of events that will put a spotlight on Gabbard’s past remarks.

Also this week, Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to be Defense secretary, will be back on Capitol Hill to continue meeting with senators, including another huddle with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a key lawmaker who has not yet thrown her support behind the former Fox News host.

In the House, lawmakers are set to take up the annual defense bill after leaders unveiled the compromise legislation over the weekend. And conversations surrounding government funding will continue ahead of the Dec. 20 shutdown deadline.

Gabbard on the Hill

Trump selected Gabbard to lead the country’s intelligence apparatus last month, hailing the former Democrat and veteran as a champion of Constitutional rights and securing peace through strength.

Some of Gabbard’s past comments, however, have sparked concerns among lawmakers, raising questions about whether she can muster enough support in the Senate to be confirmed.

Gabbard, for instance, has made remarks about the Russia-Ukraine war that were sympathetic to Moscow and echoed by Russian state media — which praised her nomination. In the Middle East, Gabbard visited Syria in 2017 and said Bashar al-Assad was not an enemy of the U.S. — though she later labeled him a “brutal dictator.”

Gabbard’s posture towards Russia and Syria will likely come up in........

© The Hill