U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Wednesday that her agency would be undergoing a massive reduction in staff by October, part of the latest effort by the Trump administration to revamp the country’s intelligence agencies.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, ODNI 2.0 is the start of a new era focused on serving our country, filling our core national security mission with excellence, always grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and ensuring the safety, security and freedom of the American people,” Gabbard said in an evening news release.
Gabbard’s cuts — which reports suggest could impact as many as half of the agency’s employees — would reassign roles or eliminate various departments, including those that monitor foreign efforts to influence Americans; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (including biological weapons); and a team monitoring for cyberattacks.