Trump Administration Orders Sharp Cuts to US Intelligence Office, Revokes Dozens of Clearances

The Trump administration announced Wednesday it will slash the budget of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) by more than $700 million a year and reduce its workforce by over 40%. The sweeping downsizing targets the office charged with coordinating 18 intelligence agencies, including on counterterrorism and counterintelligence.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard defended the cuts, calling ODNI “bloated and inefficient” and accusing the intelligence community of “abuse of power, unauthorized leaks, and politicized weaponization of intelligence.” She said the restructuring would restore public trust and end partisan misuse of intelligence.

One major change is to the Foreign Malign Influence Center, created in 2022 to track election interference and foreign disinformation campaigns. Gabbard said the center had become “redundant” and “hyper-focused” on elections, and announced its functions would be absorbed into other agencies. Critics argue its role was essential to coordinating responses to foreign threats.

The decision follows other moves by the administration to scale back election security efforts, including the disbanding of an FBI task force and cuts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Reactions split sharply along party lines. Senate Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) praised the overhaul as returning ODNI to “its original size, scope, and mission.” Ranking Democrat Sen. Mark Warner warned the changes risk weakening U.S. national security, citing concerns over Gabbard’s “track record of politicizing intelligence.”

The announcement comes alongside a second wave of actions: the revocation of security clearances for 37 current and former officials. A memo accused them of politicizing intelligence, leaking classified information, and failing to follow professional standards. No evidence was provided.

Those targeted include officials tied to the 2016 Russia election interference assessment and critics of Trump, many of whom left government years ago. National security lawyer Mark Zaid, who was among those stripped of clearance, denounced the move as “unlawful and unconstitutional.”

Gabbard insisted the actions, directed by Trump, were justified: “Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right.”

The downsizing and clearance revocations mark the latest escalation in Trump’s long-running clashes with the intelligence community, which he has accused of working against him since taking office.