Former Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher Joins Palantir Technologies

The China hawk will lead the defense operation of Palantir, which he praised as ‘a rare, leading tech company that is unapologetic in its defense of the West.’

Former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) has joined Palantir Technologies Inc., the U.S. defense contractor announced Thursday. This confirms a months-long rumor about the union.

The China hawk, who championed legislation that could force TikTok’s China-based owner Bytedance to sell the app or face a U.S. ban, will join Palantir as their head of defense, replacing Doug Philippone, who will stay on as an advisor.

Gallagher’s hiring came as Palantir, a data-analyzing software company founded after 9/11 to work with U.S. intelligence agencies, boasted the strongest quarter in U.S. government contracts since 2022 and a 21 percent year-on-year jump in its international government revenue in the second quarter this year.

Welcoming Gallagher on Thursday in a statement on social media platforms, Palantir said it’s “thrilled” about its new defense lead as the company enters “the next stage of growth as a software prime.”

The company said the former congressman’s expertise in national security and technology, informed by his service as a Marine Corps officer, “will advance Palantir’s work to strengthen the defense tech ecosystem and ensure U.S. and allied interests.”

“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,” Alex Karp, Palantir’s CEO, said in the statement.

The former congressman also praised his new employer.

“In Palantir, you have a rare, leading tech company that is unapologetic in its defense of the West,” Gallagher said in the release.

Palantir, co-founded in 2023 by Peter Thiel, Karp, and others, initially only took government contracts before branching out to work with corporations.

The company’s hawkish stance on the Chinese communist regime fits the view of Gallagher, who chaired the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) before announcing he would retire early from Congress in April.

One of Gallagher’s last acts in Congress was championing the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This act commanded bipartisan support and was signed into law in April despite heavy lobbying by TikTok, ByteDance, and the Chinese embassy.

Under the legislation, TikTok will be banned in the United States by January 2025 unless ByteDance sells it to a non-Chinese company.

The Chinese Communist Party’s effective control over Beijing-based ByteDance has long concerned security experts, who worry about the CCP’s ability to censor, influence, and collect data with TikTok.

ByteDance challenged the new law, and a federal court ruled that it is not unconstitutional because TikTok and ByteDance are “foreign organizations operating abroad” that do not enjoy First Amendment protections. ByteDance appealed, and oral arguments in the appeals court are scheduled for Sept. 16.

Speaking of his new position with CNBC on Thursday, Gallagher said his experience on the select committee on CCP told him “the true divide on national security is not really between Republicans and Democrats, but rather between Wall Street-slash-corporate America and normal America.”

“Too often corporate America was simply unwilling to defend American values from Chinese Communist party aggression and transnational repression,” Gallagher added.

He later noted that he “can’t just sit here and demonize corporate America” but needs to find a way to work with U.S. allies to “outcompete and win this competition and prevent war in the process.”

The Epoch Times could not reach Gallagher for comment.