US Intelligence Chief Unveils Sweeping Cuts to Agency Amid Allegations of Abuse of Power
In a bold move, US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has announced a significant reduction in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) by over 40% by the end of fiscal year 2025, resulting in an estimated $700 million in savings. The cuts are part of a broader effort to “root out deep state actors” and “restore mission focus” within the agency, which Gabbard claims has become “bloated and inefficient” over the past 20 years.
According to a four-page fact sheet released by Gabbard’s department, the plan, dubbed “ODNI 2.0,” involves reducing the agency’s efforts to monitor biosecurity, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber intelligence threats, and other areas. The cuts also target the Strategic Futures Group, the office’s intelligence forecasting unit, which Gabbard’s team claims was “found to violate professional analytic tradecraft standards to propagate a political agenda” that ran counter to the current president’s national security priorities.
The move has sparked controversy, with critics accusing Gabbard of being close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In July, Gabbard accused former President Barack Obama of heading a “treasonous conspiracy” to allege that Russia interfered with American elections to help Trump, despite four separate probes concluding that Russia did indeed interfere.
The purge extends beyond slashing the agency’s current payroll, with Gabbard revoking the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials, many of whom worked on Russia analysis or foreign threats to US elections, at the president’s direction. The move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reduce the size of the federal government, which has already seen significant cuts to US foreign aid contributions, the Department of Education, and other agencies.
Gabbard’s actions have raised concerns about the politicization of the intelligence community and the potential impact on national security. As the US intelligence chief, Gabbard’s decisions have significant implications for the country’s ability to gather and analyze intelligence, and her actions will be closely watched in the coming months.
