National intelligence staffing cuts under President Donald Trump have reached the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which has lost about 200 workers to firings and reassignments since June 1, according to data the administration gave Congress and The Washington Post reported.
The reductions add to earlier cuts across intelligence offices under ODNI. Before the latest round, staffing had fallen from 2,000 to 1,300 during Tulsi Gabbard’s tenure as director of national intelligence, according to the report. The new cuts came during a tense stretch for U.S. national security, with the administration also handling the conflict with Iran after U.S. and Israeli attacks launched in February.
How many intelligence jobs has ODNI lost?
The Washington Post reported that ODNI has shed about 200 personnel since June 1 through firings and reassignments. That does not include the earlier drop from 2,000 to 1,300 in intelligence staffing under Gabbard cited in the same account of the administration’s cuts.
ODNI was created to oversee and coordinate the U.S. intelligence agencies. In plain English, it is supposed to make sure the spy agencies are not each staring at one piece of the puzzle while missing the picture. Cutting staff there can remove analysts, managers and coordinators from the machinery that turns scattered intelligence into advice for the president and other officials.
Who ordered the latest ODNI cuts?
Trump put Bill Pulte, the federal mortgage regulator, in the acting DNI job in early June. Pulte was already director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Washington Post reported that Trump said at the time he wanted Pulte to “start the process” of eliminating some workers.
Pulte had no prior national security experience, according to the report. His federal biography also did not list intelligence, military or congressional experience. That is a thin résumé for running the office that sits above the intelligence community, unless the actual job description was political housecleaning with better stationery.
Pulte’s time in the role was temporary. Trump nominated Jay Clayton for director of national intelligence, and NBC News reported that the Senate confirmed Clayton this week. PBS previously reported that Gabbard had resigned from the post last month.
Why are the cuts drawing national security concern?
The cuts are landing in an agency Trump and many Republicans in Congress have targeted, The Washington Post reported. Trump has long been hostile toward career intelligence officials, arguing that intelligence agencies tried to undermine him during his first term, particularly over assessments involving Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The Post also reported that Trump has dismissed intelligence analysis on multiple foreign policy questions, including North Korea’s nuclear policy and Iran’s likely reaction to U.S. and Israeli attacks in February.
The confirmed fact is narrow and serious: the administration told Congress that roughly 200 ODNI personnel have been fired or reassigned since June 1. The broader risk is also obvious enough without the usual Washington fog machine. If the office responsible for coordinating U.S. spy agencies is cut while the president is rejecting intelligence he dislikes, the country gets fewer institutional brakes at the exact moment it needs more sober ones.
This story draws on original reporting from Techdirt.
