President-elect Trump has nominated former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as his director of national intelligence. Why it matters: If confirmed, the ex-Democrat turned MAGA ally would head the country's vast intelligence community despite having little experience in the field.

Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence for the final months of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday chose Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and an outspoken critic of the Biden administration's foreign policy, to become his director of national intelligence.