KEY POINTS
- Tulsi Gabbard to cut ODNI staff by over 40% and slash $700m from its budget.
- Several ODNI units to be dismantled, including the Foreign Malign Influence Center.
- Security clearances revoked for 37 officials linked to previous Democratic administrations.
- Gabbard ordered intelligence on Russia-Ukraine peace talks withheld from Five Eyes allies.
WASHINGTON: US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has announced extensive reforms to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), including plans to cut nearly half of its staff and reduce its budget by $700 million annually.
Gabbard, appointed by President Donald Trump, said the intelligence community had become “bloated and inefficient” over the past two decades.
She pledged to “end the politicisation of intelligence” and “restore public trust” in the agency responsible for coordinating the work of 18 US intelligence organisations.
Workforce and budget cuts
In a statement on Wednesday, Gabbard said the ODNI would undergo a workforce reduction of “more than 40%,” consolidating teams and eliminating what she described as redundant functions.
Federal News Network, which tracks federal workforce issues, reported that ODNI had around 1,800 employees when Gabbard assumed office and has already seen a 25% reduction under her leadership.
The administration said the cuts were part of a broader mandate to scale back federal agencies.
Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, welcomed the move as “an important step towards returning ODNI to its original mission”, CBS News reported.
However, Senator Mark Warner, the panel’s top Democrat, voiced concern, saying Congress would “conduct rigorous oversight” to ensure reforms did not weaken US national security.
Units dismantled
Among the offices set to close is the Foreign Malign Influence Center, created in 2022 under President Joe Biden to track foreign interference in US elections.
Gabbard argued the unit was “redundant” and too narrowly focused on election-related issues. She said its responsibilities would be absorbed by other parts of government.
Other eliminated units include those tracking weapons of mass destruction, cyber threats, and long-term global forecasting.
Emerson Brooking, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said the Foreign Malign Influence Center “was not redundant — it was meant to solve for redundancy.”
Revocation of clearances
The announcement came just hours after Gabbard said the Trump administration had revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former officials.
In a memo posted on social media, she accused the individuals — many of whom served under former Democratic presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama — of “politicising intelligence” and “leaking classified information without authorisation.”
“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard wrote.
The ODNI did not provide evidence to support the allegations, and it remains unclear whether all individuals still held active clearances.
Democrats have condemned the move as politically motivated. An Obama spokesman dismissed the allegations as “a weak attempt at distraction.”
Impact on US allies
Meanwhile, CBS News reported that Gabbard had issued a directive on 20 July ordering that all intelligence relating to Russia-Ukraine peace talks be withheld from America’s closest allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network — comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
According to US officials cited by CBS News, the directive classified such information as “NOFORN” — meaning it could not be shared with any foreign nationals.
Steven Cash, a former CIA officer, told CBS News that the Five Eyes alliance is valuable because it ensures partners “sit on the same side of the table” when negotiating with adversaries. Restricting intelligence, he said, could weaken joint decision-making.
Political backdrop
The downsizing and clearance revocations come as President Trump continues to clash with the intelligence community, particularly over its long-standing conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Trump and Gabbard have described that assessment as a “treasonous conspiracy” designed to undermine his presidency.
Democrats argue the administration’s moves are designed to discredit intelligence agencies and deflect from other controversies.
Republicans, meanwhile, have largely backed the reforms as necessary to streamline government and eliminate perceived bias.
