Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a plan that will see her agency’s headcount substantially reduced.
Gabbard said the transformation will reduce the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) staff by more than 40% before the end of the year, potentially saving taxpayers over $700 million annually.
“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 statement.
“ODNI and the IC must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the U.S. Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the President and policymakers. Ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable are essential to begin to earn the American people’s trust which has long been eroded.”
Gabbard said the initiative, which she called 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.”
ODNI 2.0 aims to eliminate “redundant missions, functions and personnel” as well as make key investments to support the national intelligence priorities of Trump.
The agency’s origins date back to the period following the September 11 terror attacks. It was created in light of systemic failures throughout the intelligence community, aiming to unify intelligence and provide oversight, ensuring the information the President and policymakers received was accurate, timely, and free from political influence.
Gabbard is closing ODNI’s Reston Campus and moving the National Intelligence Council to the main ODNI campus as part of the overhaul. The change is meant to keep essential functions in the same area and help reduce costs.
At the same time, Gabbard has also scrapped non-merit-based recruitment of intelligence community professionals.