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The Trump administration on Wednesday announced sweeping cuts to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, slashing its budget by more than $700 million annually and reducing the workforce by over 40%.
The decision marks one of the largest downsizings in the agency’s history and comes as President Donald Trump continues to challenge assessments from the U.S. intelligence community. His administration also has revoked dozens of security clearances in recent days and declassified records questioning long-standing findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on his behalf.
“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,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement. “Ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable are essential to begin to earn the American people’s trust.”
Background: Intelligence Restructuring
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, created in 2004 after the 9/11 attacks, was designed to coordinate the work of 18 intelligence agencies. Over time, its budget and workforce expanded, and critics argued it created new layers of bureaucracy.
The Trump administration’s restructuring continues a broader trend of curtailing programs aimed at countering foreign election interference. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded an FBI task force dedicated to foreign influence operations. The administration also cut staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and closed a State Department office focused on countering disinformation from Russia, China and Iran.
Foreign Influence Center Targeted
Among the most significant changes announced Wednesday is the effective dismantling of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, a Biden-era office established in 2022 to coordinate intelligence on foreign disinformation campaigns targeting U.S. elections.
Gabbard argued the center had a “hyper-focus” on elections and claimed it was “used by the previous administration to justify the suppression of free speech and to censor political opposition.” She said its responsibilities would be absorbed by other parts of government.
Emerson Brooking, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, disputed Gabbard’s assessment. “It wasn’t redundant, it was supposed to solve for redundancy,” he said, noting the center’s role in coordinating disparate intelligence and alerting the public about disinformation, such as a viral Russian video in 2024 that falsely depicted mail-in ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania.
Partisan Response in Congress
Reaction to the announcement quickly split along party lines.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised the move as “an important step towards returning ODNI to its original size, scope, and mission.”
But Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the committee’s ranking Democrat, raised concerns about weakening intelligence functions. “I intend to conduct rigorous oversight to ensure any reforms strengthen, not weaken, our national security,” Warner said, adding that he was “not confident” given Gabbard’s “track record of politicizing intelligence.”
Gabbard’s Role in Trump’s Inner Circle
The cuts reflect the Trump administration’s broader push to reduce the size of the federal government, a campaign spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Gabbard, once seen as at odds with Trump over her analysis of Iran’s nuclear program, has emerged as a close ally in recent months. Her decision to dismantle high-profile offices within her own agency underscores her alignment with the president’s agenda to overhaul intelligence structures and curb what he has called “deep state” abuses.
Next Steps
The administration said the Foreign Malign Influence Center will sunset by 2028, though Gabbard described its immediate dismantling as “termination in all but name.” The workforce reductions across ODNI are set to begin later this year.
As Democrats prepare oversight hearings, intelligence experts warn the cuts could hinder coordination across agencies at a time when foreign disinformation campaigns remain a persistent threat.
