❓WHAT HAPPENED: Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard announced plans to cut her agency’s workforce by up to 40 percent and eliminate several offices accused of politicizing intelligence.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Tulsi Gabbard, senior Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and former DNI James Clapper.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Announcement made on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable are essential to begin to earn the American people’s trust which has long been eroded.” – Tulsi Gabbard
🎯IMPACT: The initiative could save taxpayers up to $700 million and aims to restore public trust in the intelligence community.
On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard revealed plans for a major overhaul of her office, which includes slashing the workforce by up to 40 percent and shutting down several offices accused of politicizing intelligence. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which employed over 1,800 people when Gabbard assumed her role, is expected to reduce its staff to around 1,300. Dubbed “ODNI 2.0,” the restructuring is expected to save taxpayers as much as $700 million.
The restructuring will eliminate offices such as the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC), the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center. Gabbard specifically called out the FMIC for undermining civil liberties, pointing to its role in pressuring tech companies to censor stories such as an October 2020 report on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
In a message to ODNI employees, Gabbard underscored the urgency of reform, stating, “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 move follows the revocation of security clearances for 37 current and former intelligence officials, accused by Gabbard of having “abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.”
In addition to the ODNI reforms, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has agreed to merge the National Intelligence University with the National Defense University to streamline intelligence-related programs.
Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right. Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold. In… pic.twitter.com/23DUNuVAi0
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) August 19, 2025
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