McLean, VIRGINIA — Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard is slashing her department’s staff and streamlining “redundant” projects in order to save money, “restore trust” in the U.S. intelligence community, and to continue rooting out the “weaponization” of intelligence.
Senior ODNI officials told Breitbart News of the transformation, dubbed “ODNI 2.0,” explaining that a wave of downsizing began Wednesday afternoon, with an emphasis on shutting down the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC).
The FMIC, which houses the Election Threats Executive (ETE), coordinated with Big Tech companies including Twitter (now X) and Facebook shortly before the former removed the New York Post’s October 2020 Hunter Biden laptop story from its platform, officials said.
The center was “turned against the American people,” and former President Joe Biden “used it against conservatives and gun owners,” one senior ODNI adviser explained.
The FMIC was also found to be “redundant” because the National Intelligence Council and National Counterintelligence and Security Center already monitor efforts by foreign entities to influence the American public, officials added.
There were around 2,000 ODNI personnel when President Donald Trump re-entered office and tapped Gabbard to head the agency, and there has already been a 30 percent slash in staffers.
After Wednesday, the ends of entire “redundant” centers like the FMIC, the National Intelligence University (NIU), National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center (NCBC), Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC), and others will result in a nearly 50 percent decrease in staffing since Gabbard became director.
“If everything’s on fire and everything’s a priority, then nothing is,” an official said, explaining that ODNI will cut “a lot of red tape” that “stops us from being elite and agile.”
The latest round of ODNI layoffs will save taxpayers $700 million, officials added.
While some personnel will be out of a job, others will return back to their “home agencies,” including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In closing the NIU, which officials said is “narrow in scope” and does not require its own university, Gabbard has coordinated with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to integrate students into his department’s National Defense University (NDU).
A joint letter to students from Gabbard and Hegseth obtained by Breitbart News reads, “This effort aligns with President Trump’s focus on increasing efficiencies across the government and will enhance the quality of our educational programs.”
“You will be in good hands under DOD NDU leadership,” the letter added.
While the prospect of shutting down the ODNI, established in response to September 11 attacks, was discussed during Gabbard’s Senate confirmation hearings, it was ultimately decided to let her run the agency and make revisions as she saw fit.
“Departments and agencies left to their own devices will create things like the Russia hoax,” one official said, referring to Gabbard’s recent declassification of documents revealing that the Obama administration orchestrated the narrative that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
Gabbard briefed Trump in the Oval Office on ODNI 2.0 about two weeks ago, coming out of the meeting with his “green light.”
“All of [Trump’s] priorities reflected in this,” an official said of the ODNI’s transformative plans.
Other than eliminating centers that had been weaponized and wrapped in red tape, the ODNI is also set to make “investments” in “prioritizing artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, and technological capabilities,” officials stated.
The intelligence community should “ebb and flow” with the country’s needs, one adviser pointed out.
Gabbard’s recent declassifications and revocation of security clearances of “current and former intelligence professionals who have abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence” have all been aimed at “restoring trust in the intelligence community.”
The DNI informed her workforce of the changes being made in a letter that began with “Aloha.”
“To those transitioning to new opportunities, thank you for your service and dedication,” an excerpt of the letter obtained by Breitbart News states. “We deeply empathize with the disruption this may cause and are committed to supporting you through this process with options and resources to aid your next steps.”
In announcing the beginning of ODNI 2.0, Gabbard wants all other intelligence agencies to follow in similar fashion.
“We’re holding those other agencies accountable,” an official said, noting that Gabbard “wanted to lead by example.”
Gabbard re-emphasized the purpose of ODNI 2.0 in a press release.
“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,” the DNI said. “ODNI and the IC must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the US 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,” she added. “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.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
