Personnel cuts to national intelligence office will save taxpayers $700 million

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is set to undergo a massive overhaul and cut 40% of its workforce, continuing the Trump administration’s efforts to slash bureaucratic bloat across federal agencies.

Created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, ODNI functions as the U.S. Intelligence Community’s oversight body and central hub, promoting intelligence integration and communication within the IC.

In recent years, however, the ODNI has strayed from its central focus, according to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who said she is launching “ODNI 2.0” to “make serious changes.”

That includes reducing the ODNI’s workforce by at least 40%, eliminating “redundant missions, functions, and personnel,” directing funds to President Donald Trump’s national intelligence priorities, and ending “politicization and weaponization of intelligence.”

“Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence,” Gabbard said in a news release Friday.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, ODNI 2.0 is the start of a new era focused on serving our country, fulfilling 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.”

Functions of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center will be “refocused,” an attached fact sheet notes, while the External Research Council and the Strategic Futures Group will be completely eliminated. Gabbard claimed the latter entities have “operated as hubs for injecting partisan priorities into intelligence products.”

Gabbard’s plan also includes IC-wide reforms, including streamlining contracting authority for companies partnering with the IC and increasing two-way information sharing with U.S. law enforcement.

In total, the changes are expected to save taxpayers at least $700 million annually.

Republicans have accused the IC under former Democratic administrations of unfairly targeting Trump during and after his first presidential term. Intelligence documents that Gabbard recently declassified indicate the Obama administration knowingly fabricated reports accusing Trump of colluding with Russia in the 2016 election. IC officials also allegedly pressured officers who held reservations to go along with the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.

The IC also came under fire for multiple operational and security failures leading up to the first assassination attempt of then-presidential candidate Trump in 2024.