Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is reducing her office by over 40% before the end of fiscal year 2025 on Sept. 30. The move, according to Gabbard’s office, will “save taxpayers over $700 million per year.”
The downsizing comes as the Trump administration continues its aim to reduce waste in the federal government.
“ODNI and the [Intelligence Community] must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the U.S. Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the president and policymakers,” Gabbard said in a statement Wednesday.
Gabbard is calling the downsized and refocused office “ODNI 2.0.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the U.S. to bring needed changes to the Intelligence Community. But according to Gabbard, the office has strayed from its founding intent.
“Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence,” the director said.
The announcement to downsize ODNI came just one day after Gabbard said she is stripping the security clearance of 37 former or current intelligence professionals. Gabbard claims the intelligence professionals are losing clearance because they “have abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.”
Throughout the summer, Gabbard has also released multiple documents related to the “Russiagate” scandal, some of which indicate the intelligence community had a direct hand in furthering a now debunked claim that Russian authorities conspired with then-candidate Donald Trump to help secure the president’s victory in the 2026 election.
The release of the “Russiagate” documents, the revoking of security clearances, and now the downsizing of ODNI all point to Gabbard’s intent to reform the office and, in her words, begin “the start of a new era focused on serving our country, fulfilling our core national security mission with excellence, always grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people.”
