ODNI Faces 40% Cut Push as Trump Allies Weigh Shrinking or Ending Agency
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 9
ODNI Faces 40% Cut Push as Trump Allies Weigh Shrinking or Ending Agency
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 9
Summary
John Thune said Republicans are actively considering downsizing and reassessing the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, giving fresh momentum to a broader push after Trump’s new DNI pick.
Trump has called ODNI “unnecessary and/or too big,” while Tulsi Gabbard touted cutting its staff by 40%; an ODNI official said she was willing to be the last DNI if the office disappeared.
Tom Cotton backed shrinking or even eliminating the agency, though House Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford’s office called ODNI bloated while still defending some of its work.
Democrats argued reform should not become dismantlement, with Jim Himes and Mark Warner warning Congress not to scrap a post-9/11 structure without a fact-based case.
Created after the 9/11 intelligence failures to coordinate 18 agencies, ODNI has long faced resistance from parts of the spy community, and former officials say abolishing it would likely force a similar body to reemerge.