Former Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is seeking to become Secretary of Defense in President-elect Donald Trump’s office, The Post has learned.

The Pentagon job is at the top of Gabbard’s wish list, four sources told The Post on Tuesday, but the future 47th president has not yet made his final decision.

A Republican Party insider said Gabbard “was going to privately petition Trump earlier this week” to become defense secretary, although the source added that the 43-year-old might also be interested in becoming director of Defense. the CIA.

A source close to the transition told the Post that Gabbard, who is an adviser to that team, would be interested in the defense job — but that he faces competition from former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, who leads the Pentagon transition team. .

This source said Gabbard would be “much better” than the “weak” Wilkie, whose tenure in the first Trump administration was marred by allegations that he mishandled a sexual assault report while under -Pentagon Secretary of Personnel and Readiness – the office that manages the Department of Defense. prevention and policies regarding sexual assault.

Other candidates for defense secretary include Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has won favor in military circles for working closely with the Pentagon on defense legislation, and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), GOP sources told the Post.

Gabbard became an honorary member of Trump’s transition team after supporting the former president during his re-election campaign and changing her membership to the Republican Party.

She has been a member of the National Guard since 2003, deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and the Horn of Africa.

However, this could pose a barrier to serving Trump because federal law states that a secretary of defense cannot have served on active duty in the armed forces for at least seven years before taking office – a provision intended to ensure that a civilian- lead the army.

If Gabbard is nominated to lead the Pentagon, Congress would have to approve a waiver that exceeds the seven-year requirement – ​​a consideration it recently extended to Trump’s first Defense Secretary, James Mattis; as well as current Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.

Although she is a former Democrat, Gabbard’s potential nomination has sparked a wave of enthusiasm from some of the most conservative members of the first Trump administration because of her views on foreign policy, namely avoiding new wars and end current wars.

John McEntee, who led the White House Office of Presidential Personnel — which makes administrative personnel decisions — during the final year of Trump’s first term, said Gabbard would be an excellent choice.

“It would be cool to have someone less hawkish in the Cabinet,” said McEntee, who has become a Tiktok celebrity And co-founder of a dating app during the Trump interregnum.

“Ultimately, Donald Trump will make the decision he believes is best and we must trust his judgment.”