US National Intelligence plans massive layoffs Amid Agency Restructurisation

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is implementing a sweeping reduction of her office’s workforce, cutting staff by roughly 40% as part of a broader restructuring of the U.S. intelligence community, according to a senior ODNI official.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is expected to reduce its headcount to approximately 1,300 employees, down from about 2,000 in February and 1,500 as of mid-August, Caliber.Az reports, citing American media.

Gabbard’s office estimates the cuts will save around $700 million annually, out of a total U.S. intelligence budget exceeding $100 billion last year.

“ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power,” Gabbard said in a statement.

The changes, branded as “ODNI 2.0,” aim to refocus or eliminate departments considered redundant. Among the affected offices are the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, which monitors weapons of mass destruction; the Foreign Malign Influence Center, tasked with mitigating threats to democracy; and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, which oversees cybersecurity.

ODNI also plans to close the National Intelligence University and merge it with the Pentagon’s National Defense University, while shuttering the External Research Council and Strategic Futures Group, which the agency accused of partisanship.

Created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, ODNI oversees the U.S. intelligence community and advises the president on intelligence matters. Over the past two decades, members of both parties have debated reforms to the agency, citing inefficiencies and the need for streamlined operations.

By Khagan Isayev