Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has launched the most sweeping overhaul of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since its creation after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This week, Director Gabbard revealed her plan, called ODNI 2.0, that will shrink the agency by more than 40 percent before the end of fiscal year 2025. That means reducing ODNI’s workforce from nearly 2,000 employees when Gabbard took office in February, to just about 1,300 staff members as of September. The changes are expected to save at least 700 million US dollars annually, according to senior officials and Gabbard’s own statements.
Director Gabbard clarified that ODNI had become “bloated and inefficient,” pointing to what she described as widespread abuse of power, leaks of classified information, and weaponization of intelligence across the community. The restructuring will cut jobs, eliminate vacant positions, and return borrowed staff members to their home agencies. Key departments being consolidated or dissolved include the Foreign Malign Influence Center, the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center. Their functions will be merged into other units within ODNI.
In a letter to staff, Gabbard said the External Research Council and Strategic Futures Group would be eliminated entirely, arguing they were vehicles for injecting partisan priorities into intelligence work. ODNI’s National Intelligence University will also be shut down and merged with the Pentagon’s National Defense University. Employees impacted by these shifts will be notified through September, with some ending their roles officially by late September.
Director Gabbard has stated that these reforms are intended to end the politicization of intelligence and restore trust, emphasizing objective, unbiased intelligence gathering for the president and policymakers. However, the shakeup is controversial. Senator Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised the plan as a step toward restoring ODNI’s original mission—lean and focused on critical intelligence tasks. He pointed out that Congress had designed ODNI to coordinate across the intelligence community, not to expand into a sprawling bureaucracy.
On the other hand, Senator Mark Warner, top Democrat on the committee, expressed strong concern over Gabbard’s leadership. He referenced Gabbard’s recent move to revoke security clearances for dozens of current and former officials, based on alleged politicization of intelligence. Warner and other critics argue that while reform is needed, the way Gabbard is implementing it may undermine the effectiveness of US national security.
Director Gabbard maintains that these changes, supported by President Trump and his national security advisers, mark the beginning of a “new era” for American intelligence—one focused on serving the Constitution, delivering unbiased intelligence, and protecting the safety and freedom of the American people.
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