3:31National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 23, 2025, in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declared Wednesday that her agency will shrink its payroll by nearly 50 percent and fold multiple intelligence hubs into larger directorates as part of an extensive redesign dubbed “ODNI 2.0.”
Labelled by officials as the most sweeping overhaul since the office emerged after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, the plan is projected to shave over $700 million from the federal budget each year while returning ODNI to its essential task of coordinating and supervising the intelligence apparatus, officials noted.
Swelling to roughly 1,850 employees across two decades, the office has become oversized and unwieldy, Gabbard said. Senior officials informed ABC News that reductions will concentrate on duplicated roles and processes. Affected employees will start receiving notices on Wednesday, with the positions slated to close on Sept. 23. Unfilled posts will stay unfilled, and personnel on detachment to other branches will head back to their parent organizations.
In a message to the workforce obtained by ABC News, Gabbard characterized ODNI 2.0 as “a trimmer, nimbler, and more responsive organization re-centered on fusing the IC [Intelligence Community], defending analytic standards, and supplying prompt, impartial intelligence to the president and decision-makers.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard addresses the media in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 23, 2025, in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Among the biggest shifts: abolishing the Foreign Malign Influence Center, National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center—duties will be absorbed into ODNI’s Mission Integration directorate and the National Intelligence Council.
The National Counterterrorism Center, newly helmed by Joe Kent, will narrow its aperture to principal counterterror efforts while also stepping up counternarcotics work, mirroring the Trump administration’s stance on treating narcotics trafficking as a security menace. Officials noted the pivot extends efforts launched earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, National Intelligence University will move under the Pentagon’s National Defense University. In an Aug. 11 letter obtained by ABC News, Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the shift “fulfills President Trump’s mandate to boost government efficiencies while elevating the caliber of our educational offerings.” Staff said the realignment will knit intelligence schooling more tightly to defense objectives and eliminate overlap. It also illustrates the joint drive by Gabbard and Hegseth to unify national-security education.
National Intelligence Managers and the National Intelligence Management Council will merge beneath the National Intelligence Officer framework to tighten supervisory lines. The downsizing also zeros in on tech platforms and contractor-laden initiatives. By removing repetitive human-resource and analytic software across the 18-agency intelligence complex, ODNI estimates nearly an additional $1 billion in annual savings.
President Donald Trump was walked through the reform package earlier this month together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and top National Security Council members. Gabbard underscored that ODNI itself will endure, maintaining its role as the community’s central hub for integration and oversight.
The plan additionally emphasizes fresh investment in artificial intelligence, quantum systems, and advanced data engines. One senior official observed that portions of ODNI’s technology have remained untouched for two decades. Gabbard pledged that upgrading analytic craft to weave in AI is a top objective, though she ruled out human jobs being supplanted by machines.
Other shuttered entities include the External Research Council—framed by Gabbard’s office as a politically stacked panel that laced partisan slant into the analytic cycle—and the Strategic Futures Group, derided by ODNI for injecting “deep state” viewpoints via its Global Trends report. ODNI will also close its Reston, Virginia, campus and fold all activity into the main headquarters.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Gabbard portrayed the changes as both financial prudence and a cultural overhaul: “Across two decades ODNI has swelled and grown sluggish, while the intelligence arena has suffered rampant power abuses, unsanctioned disclosure of classified material, and politicized weaponization of reports.
“Curbing intelligence manipulation and punishing rogue actors are critical first steps to regaining the public’s trust—an asset already badly eroded. Under President Trump’s guidance, ODNI 2.0 ushers in a fresh epoch committed to national service and excellence in our core security duties.”
In a final note to employees, Gabbard wrote: “We exist for a purpose higher than any individual. I invite you to seize this chance at a clean slate—with discipline and determination—owning our mission and forging ahead together.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Intelligence Committee chair, signaled his readiness to assist Gabbard in executing the overhaul.
“Congress formed ODNI as a compact outfit leveraging modest teams to coordinate Intelligence Community operations and carry out vital assigned tasks. Today’s announcement marks a decisive move toward restoring ODNI to that original footprint and mission, making it a tougher and more effective national-security instrument for President Trump,” he said in a statement.
Committee ranking Democrat Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia acknowledged bipartisan consensus around the need for “careful modernization,” yet expressed reservations about Gabbard spearheading the effort.
“The Intelligence Authorization Act orders Director Gabbard to deliver a plan to Congress detailing her proposed measures, and we will scrutinize those proposals rigorously to confirm the changes enhance rather than erode our security. Yet given Director Gabbard’s history of politicizing intelligence—including yesterday’s revocation of clearances from career officials—I lack faith she is suited to shoulder this immense responsibility,” he said in a statement.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
