Topline
Interim Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte said the agency will conduct a fifth and “near final” round of terminations Tuesday, amounting to a 30% reduction in staff from weeks ago—as the Senate is set to confirm a permanent replacement for Pulte later Tuesday.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte (L) and U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin attend a rally to kick off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Pulte said “we are, this morning, Executing a 5th and Near Final Round of TERMINATIONS, an approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago,” he wrote on X, adding, “The Intelligence Community must protect the American people, NOT the political whims of the bloated and corrupt elite class.”
Pulte said Sunday on X that “as of this evening, we just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs.”
The Senate is scheduled to vote whether to confirm Jay Clayton, the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, as Pulte’s permanent replacement, after President Donald Trump’s initial director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned in May.
Trump said last month he wanted Pulte to make the agency “smaller,” because he could be “less shackled” in the role since it was temporary, he told The Wall Street Journal shortly after announcing Pulte’s appointment.
The agency has slashed 200 jobs since June 1, according to the Washington Post, citing data the Trump administration provided Congress that shows the ODNI workforce has been reduced to half the 2,000 employees it had at the start of Trump’s second term.
The cuts include some firings, but mostly sending intelligence officials from other agencies who have been assigned to work at ODNI, such as the CIA, back to their primary jobs, according to The Washington Post.
Tangent
Clayton, the former Securities and Exchange Commission chair during Trump’s first term, is generally respected on both sides of the aisle, but he lost some support of Democrats on the intelligence committee when he refused to say during his confirmation hearing earlier this month that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. The Senate voted Monday along party lines to advance his nomination, without the support of the Democrats on the intelligence committee who helped expedite his nomination prior to his controversial remarks about the 2020 election.
Key Background
Gabbard had already started to make cuts to the agency prior to her departure. Trump’s decision to tap Pulte as her replacement was widely panned by members of both parties. Chair of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte has no national security or intelligence experience and is best known for his fierce loyalty to Trump and efforts to punish his political adversaries.
further reading
Trump Wants Controversial New Acting Intelligence Chief Pulte To Start Firing Staff (Forbes)
Trump Taps Pulte—Who Led Probes Into Trump Enemies—For National Intelligence Chief (Forbes)