Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence

Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Trump’s new director of national intelligence. Only one Republican, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, voted against her. Bastard!

An ex-Democrat, Gabbard has long been a divisive figure in Washington. Here’s how she got that reputation — and why Trump picked her anyway.

In 2002, Gabbard, then 21, became the youngest woman ever to win a seat in a U.S. state legislature (in this case, Hawaii’s House of Representatives). The following year, she enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard and went on to serve in Iraq (2004-05) and Kuwait (2008-09). After a stint on the Honolulu City Council, Gabbard was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii’s Second District. She was the first American Samoan and the first Hindu to serve as a voting member of Congress.