U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) testifies during a Republican-led forum on the origins of the COVID-19 virus at the U.S. Capitol on June 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. The forum examined the theory that the coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan, China. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, a defense hawk who led the House select committee on China, has joined Palantir Technologies as the new head of its defense division, the company announced today.

Gallagher, who resigned from Congress in March and departed in April, started at Palantir in June. Doug Philippone, a venture capitalist who led the company’s defense arm since 2008, will stay with Palantir as an adviser, a spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

Over his four terms in the House, the Wisconsin Republican and Marine Corps veteran built a reputation around his national security bonafides, serving on the House Armed Services Committee and emerging as one of the biggest critics of China’s technological and military buildup, as well as a major supporter of US military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. His positions on foreign and domestic politics, which included opposition to the proposed impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, sometimes left him at odds with hard-right GOP members more closely aligned with former President Donald Trump.

One of Gallagher’s final accomplishments included introducing a bill that would ban social media app TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese owners sell their stake in the company. That bill was passed by Congress in April as a part of a larger foreign aid package that was signed into law later that month.

In an interview with Defense One, Gallagher said his priorities at Palantir would include building on the company’s recent string of contract awards — including a win on the Army’s TITAN contract that makes Palantir the first software company to act as a prime on a hardware platform — as well as growing the company’s space portfolio and increasing its involvement in AUKUS.

“I view this as an opportunity to continue that mission, the mission of defending the country, of preventing World War III, in the private sector. And I think those are the stakes. I don’t think that’s an overstatement,” he said.

Today’s announcement confirms reporting by Puck News and other outlets in March that Gallagher would join the defense tech firm.

“Mike’s unique talents have helped to shape U.S. policy towards our adversaries. I am delighted he is joining Palantir, and am certain he will play an invaluable role for Palantir and our mission partners,” Palantir CEO Alex Karp said in a statement.