President Donald Trump is pressing ahead with plans to slash staff at the top U.S. spy agency, determined to act at a time when he has openly challenged its director and rejected intelligence findings that contradict his public statements.
Trump has openly discussed dismantling the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, including when he nominated Tulsi Gabbard to lead it, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. He’s floated the idea again more recently, they said.
Trump and members of his Cabinet also appear to be pushing Gabbard to the sideline to work with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on intelligence matters instead, other people familiar with the matter said.
The deliberations to cut ODNI were already in motion before Trump rejected Gabbard’s assessment that Iran wasn’t actively seeking a nuclear bomb and then clashed with the intelligence community this week over early findings that suggested his strike on the country’s nuclear sites didn’t fully destroy them.
The White House denied Gabbard is being sidelined.
Gabbard has already reduced staff by about 25% and has been in discussions for months with Congress to map out deeper cuts, another one of the people said. The former Democratic congresswoman won Senate backing for the job in February in part due to her pledges to slim down the organization.
Many of those existing departures at ODNI were part of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts with staff opting into buyouts, two of the people said. The reduction includes both ODNI officers and detailees who will be returned to their home agencies.
Posted by John3262005