Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is leading a Republican effort to dramatically reduce the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), proposing a 60% workforce cut. His bill would cap staffing at 650 employees, down from about 1,600, according to a senior Senate aide, cited by NBC News. Cotton has criticized ODNI as a bloated bureaucracy and says the agency should return to its original role of providing original intelligence reports, rather than duplicating other agencies.
Although the reform push began before Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment as national intelligence director, it comes as her standing within the Trump administration has reportedly diminished. Since taking office in February, Gabbard has overseen a 25% staff reduction, part of the broader Trump administration agenda to shrink the federal workforce.
How has Gabbard responded to calls for downsizing?
Gabbard has publicly supported efforts to streamline ODNI operations. During her Senate confirmation hearing, she pledged to work with lawmakers to eliminate redundancy and inefficiency. Her office describes the changes as a comprehensive transformation focused on national security and cost-cutting.
According to an ODNI official, Gabbard’s early staffing cuts saved millions in taxpayer dollars and set a model for other intelligence agencies. “Find another agency who has reduced 25% of their workforce in 4 months on the job, saved millions of dollars in taxpayer money, and developed organization-wide reform plans that set the example for all IC [intelligence community] elements to emulate,” the official told NBC News.
Under Cotton’s bill, the National Counterterrorism Center would move to the FBI and the biosecurity and proliferation center would transfer to the CIA. The Foreign Malign Influence Center would be eliminated entirely and the National Intelligence Council would no longer draft its own assessments. Most displaced ODNI staff would return to their original agencies, while those who remain would be considered the agency’s top performers.
Is Gabbard losing influence with the White House?
Despite early Republican praise, Gabbard has increasingly found herself on the sidelines. She was absent from a recent classified briefing on U.S. strikes in Iran. Additionally, President Donald Trump publicly rejected her March testimony that Iran had not resumed its nuclear weapons program.
“She’s wrong,” Trump said, dismissing her assessment.
A former official told The Atlantic that Gabbard “touched the third rail” by contradicting Trump’s preferred narrative, further alienating her from senior administration figures.
In a later statement, Gabbard said Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within weeks or months if it chose to. Intelligence officials told The Atlantic they based the shift not on new evidence, but on a perceived need to align with the president.
According to multiple sources, Gabbard had little influence in the lead-up to the Iran strikes and with Trump. One Trump ally called her “a nonplayer” on foreign policy.
