Key takeaways:
- CBS reported that six ODNI staff members were fired and 45 were sent back to their home agencies after Bill Pulte became acting director.
- Top Democrats Mark Warner and Jim Himes warned that large cuts could jeopardize the mission of an office created after the Sept. 11 attacks.
- The staffing dispute coincides with a congressional standoff over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expired earlier this month, according to CBS.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has removed just over 50 career and political staff members from their roles at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, days after taking over an agency already reshaped by major workforce cuts.
Six staff members were fired and 45 were sent back to their home agencies, CBS News reported, citing three sources familiar with the personnel moves. The Guardian reported that the DNI had not responded to a request for comment on the reported firings.
The moves came after President Donald Trump appointed Pulte, who also leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director following Tulsi Gabbard’s announcement in late May that she would leave the post. Pulte assumed the acting DNI role on Friday, according to CBS News.
CBS reported that Pulte had asked deputies and other directors for suggestions about cuts. Some ODNI deputies pushed for deeper reductions, but Pulte said 51 removals were enough for now, one source told the outlet. One source characterized the cuts as thoughtful and methodical. CBS also reported that no staffers have been removed from the counterterrorism group and that no further firings are planned for now, according to two sources.
The personnel changes follow a broader downsizing begun under Gabbard. CBS reported that last year’s planned reductions aimed to shrink the office’s workforce from about 2,000 to roughly 1,300. The Guardian reported that Gabbard announced a 40% reduction in the DNI workforce last August, saying the office had become bloated and inefficient and alleging that the broader intelligence community was “rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence.”
Trump has pushed for additional reductions. Earlier this month, he directed Pulte in a Truth Social post to “execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office,” CBS reported.
The ODNI oversees the nation’s intelligence agencies and helps coordinate their work. It was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which investigators widely believe were preceded by failures among intelligence agencies to share information. Gabbard and some lawmakers have argued the office has become too large and added bureaucracy to the intelligence community.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said earlier this month the office has “grown far beyond its original mandate.” Cotton has argued that many employees detailed to ODNI from other intelligence agencies should return to their “home agencies.”
Top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees warned Pulte against sweeping changes. Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes said in a joint statement that “any large cuts would follow on a substantial downsizing that has already occurred in 2025 and risk jeopardizing the mission of an organization explicitly created after 9/11 to prevent any future such terrorist attack.” The Guardian reported that Himes and Warner also sent Pulte a letter raising concerns about substantive changes, including firing hundreds of people, without consulting Congress.
Pulte has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans because he lacks national security experience. Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado said on CBS’s “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that he is worried “Americans are at risk” with Pulte serving as DNI “because we have someone who’s incompetent at the head of this agency.” Crow also called him “a political attack dog” and said the position requires significant intelligence experience.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis also criticized Pulte, The Guardian reported. Tillis told reporters Pulte should conduct an analysis and eliminate “only the people whose jobs can be either automated or never should have been there.” Tillis added: “I think he’s an incompetent sycophant and not the right person to lead DNI, and you’re undermining ultimately what the confirmed administrator should be doing.”
The leadership fight comes amid a separate standoff over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which gives intelligence agencies broad authority to monitor overseas targets. CBS reported that Democrats have declined to extend the authority, allowing it to expire earlier this month, while some lawmakers in both parties have sought stricter guardrails because the program can collect Americans’ communications without a warrant. Intelligence officials say the program is essential to national security.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on “Face the Nation” that “any Democrat that shuts down FISA at a time of great peril for the United States is making a huge mistake,” adding, “We’re playing with fire here, no matter what side does it. America needs FISA up and running.”
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