Gabbard installs Iran dove to prepare Trump's intel briefing
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 10, 2025. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has quietly installed William Ruger, a former Charles Koch Institute vice president and skeptic of military action against Iran, into a key position in her department, according to congressional officials.
Why it matters: Ruger's appointment to one of the most important jobs in the intelligence community had led to private concern and public praise among congressional Republicans, reflecting the deep divides in the party on key policy questions, from Iran to Ukraine to China.
- "Will is a solid choice by DNI Gabbard," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Axios in a statement. "He has honorably served our country and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table."
- "This is the kind of principled leadership we need more of in Washington," he said.
- "Donald Trump said no Koch people should serve and at some point he's going to realize that his administration has become littered with them," said a GOP congressional official.
A Gabbard spokesperson declined to comment.
Zoom out: Senate Republicans have outwardly accepted Trump's defense and intelligence nominees, and voted to confirm them.
- But below the surface, there are vicious battles over who will serve in positions that don't require Senate confirmation, but are hugely influential.
The latest flare-up stems from Gabbard's decision to make Ruger the deputy director of national intelligence for mission integration, a consequential job that includes a range of responsibilities, including preparing the president's intelligence briefing.
- He is listed as the "acting" director on one ODNI webpage, but on the official job description page, the "acting" is missing.
- Last month, Gabbard decided not to give the same job to Daniel Davis, a critic of Israel and skeptic of foreign interventions, after an uproar from pro-Israel advocates over his expected appointment.
- But since then, she has quietly given the position to Ruger, according to congressional officials.
Zoom in: Like Davis, Ruger has connections to both the Charles Koch Institute and Defense Priorities, think tanks that have been skeptical of military actions against Iran and take a restrained view on how much the U.S. should intervene abroad. .
- In January, Trump took to Truth Social to warn not to send "or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch)," he said, misnaming one of the Koch's groups. The post was broadly interpreted by congressional Republicans as a prohibition against officials affiliated with the Koch network.
- Ruger, a Navy reservist, Afghan war veteran and academic, was nominated by Trump to be his ambassador to Afghanistan in September of 2020, but the Senate ran out of time and he was never confirmed.
Between the lines: A frequent poster on X, Ruger has advocated for a more isolationist approach to global conflicts.
- In 2021, he called on President Biden "to continue with the promised withdrawal" of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a New York Times op-ed.
- This summer, he was critical of advocates for regime change in Iran, saying on X, "These guys have learned nothing from last 25 years."
The bottom line: GOP divisions over Iran were highlighted during the confirmation process for Elbridge Colby, who was confirmed this week as Trump's under secretary for policy at the Defense Department by a vote of 54-45.
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to vote against him.
- "Elbridge Colby's long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America," McConnell said in a statement.