Gabbard Slashes US Intelligence Office Workforce by 40% Amid Major Restructuring
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will undergo sweeping cuts, with its workforce reduced by 40% and its annual budget slashed by more than $700 million, the Trump administration announced.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defended the overhaul, describing the agency as bloated and politicized.
“Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become inefficient, rife with abuses of power, unauthorized leaks, and the politicization of intelligence,” Gabbard said. “The intelligence community must return to its core mission: delivering timely, objective intelligence to the President and policymakers.”
The restructuring aligns with the administration’s broader effort to scale back election-related intelligence operations. Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded an FBI task force investigating foreign influence, and funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was reduced.
The downsizing also reflects a long-standing cost-cutting mandate, first introduced under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which drove mass federal layoffs.
Gabbard’s move follows Trump’s decision this week to revoke the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials. The shake-up also includes new priorities for the Foreign Malign Influence Center, created in 2022 under the Biden administration to coordinate intelligence on election interference. Gabbard criticized its “hyper-focus” on elections, arguing it had been used to justify censorship of political opposition.
ODNI has previously worked with other agencies to counter disinformation, including exposing a 2024 Russian video that falsely showed mail-in ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania.
Sen. Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, welcomed the changes, calling them “a step toward making ODNI a stronger and more effective national security tool for President Trump.”
