Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s controversial pick to serve as Director of National Intelligence, was briefly flagged in 2024 by a Transportation Security Administration program known as “Quiet Skies.” This led to a few cases of, admittedly embarrassing, enhanced security screening during domestic travel. The revelation, confirmed by three sources familiar with the matter, has sparked renewed scrutiny of Gabbard’s foreign ties and the vetting standards applied to high-level intelligence nominees. Also, she can’t stop bringing it up in interviews – more than a year later.
According to officials, Gabbard’s overseas travel and foreign contacts activated a government algorithm used by Quiet Skies — a program designed to identify passengers for closer inspection based on behavioral patterns and intelligence data. The program is distinct from the FBI’s formal terrorist watchlist and is not typically used to assess threats in a national security context. Even so, for a cabinet-level nominee to have been flagged by any federal security apparatus is considered unusual.
The former Hawaii congresswoman, who has long fashioned herself as a maverick voice in American politics, was removed from the list shortly after she went public with the news in September of last year. She claims the designation was political retaliation.
“The Harris-Biden regime has now labeled me a domestic terror threat. Why? They see me as a threat to their power,” Gabbard wrote on X, formerly Twitter, suggesting the move stemmed from her criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2020 Democratic primary campaign. She later claimed her addition to the list was the “ultimate betrayal.”
But national security officials say her assertion lacks merit. Two sources told CNN that her comments on Harris had no bearing on the TSA’s decision and that public statements do not influence the agency’s risk-based algorithm. Quiet Skies, they emphasized, runs independently from political input and is based on travel data and government intelligence holdings.
Gabbard’s foreign engagements, however, have long raised eyebrows in Washington. In 2017, while serving in Congress, she made a controversial visit to Syria, where she met with President Bashar al-Assad without State Department coordination — a move that drew bipartisan concern. While sources have said that her inclusion on the TSA list may have been benign or temporary, it has reignited concerns about whether her international activities have been subject to appropriate vetting.
Under typical circumstances, nominees for intelligence positions undergo extensive background checks, including detailed disclosure of foreign contacts and travel. But President Trump has suggested he may bypass traditional vetting procedures for key appointments, prompting questions about whether Gabbard will face the same scrutiny applied to her predecessors.
The TSA declined to confirm whether Gabbard had ever been on the Quiet Skies list, but emphasized the program’s purpose. “TSA’s Quiet Skies program is not a terrorist watchlist,” the agency said. “It is a risk-based, automated approach to transportation security.”
Still, security experts note the optics of Gabbard’s inclusion are complicated. National security analyst Carrie Cordero explained, “t’s about risk indicators. If someone triggers the system, it means further screening is warranted.”
