Tulsi Gabbard resigns as intel chief, fourth member of Trump’s Cupboard to depart 02:02
Washington — Tulsi Gabbard mentioned Friday that she is resigning because the director of nationwide intelligence, stepping apart after her husband was recognized with a uncommon type of bone most cancers.
In a letter to President Trump, Gabbard mentioned her resignation could be efficient June 30.
“My husband, Abraham, has just lately been recognized with an especially uncommon type of bone most cancers. He faces main challenges within the coming weeks and months. Right now, I have to step away from public service to be by his aspect and absolutely assist him by means of this battle,” she mentioned. “I can not in good conscience ask him to face this combat alone whereas I proceed on this demanding and time-consuming place.”
Gabbard mentioned her husband has been her “rock” throughout their 11-year marriage, which has included a deployment, political campaigns and her function within the Trump administration.
“His power and love have sustained me by means of each problem,” she mentioned, including that she is “absolutely dedicated to making sure a clean and thorough transition over the approaching weeks.”
Tulsi Gabbard and her husband Abraham Williams hug earlier than she is sworn in as director of nationwide intelligence within the Oval Workplace on Feb. 12, 2025. / Credit score: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Mr. Trump praised Gabbard in a submit on Fact Social, saying she “has completed an unbelievable job.” He mentioned Aaron Lukas, Gabbard’s deputy on the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, will function appearing director within the interim.
Gabbard’s resignation was first reported by Fox Information.
Gabbard is the fourth Cupboard member to depart the administration this 12 months, following the departures of Legal professional Common Pam Bondi, Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
Her departure will create a gap in a vital function overseeing the 18 businesses that comprise the nation’s intelligence neighborhood amid the battle with Iran.
Gabbard’s tenure
Gabbard, a former Democratic lawmaker who broke together with her social gathering to endorse Mr. Trump in 2024, was sworn into her submit in February 2025. She had been firmly against army intervention in Iran all through her political profession.
Showing earlier than Congress earlier this 12 months, Gabbard didn’t specific assist for the present battle, telling members that it is as much as the president to find out what constitutes an “imminent risk.”
In March, Gabbard’s prime aide Joe Kent, who led the Nationwide Counterterrorism Middle, resigned, saying “Iran posed no imminent risk to our nation.” Gabbard advised lawmakers that Kent’s assertion involved her, with out elaborating.
“Finally, we have now supplied the president with the intelligence assessments and the president is elected by the American folks and makes his personal selections primarily based on the knowledge that is out there to him,” she mentioned.
Earlier than the bombings of Iran’s nuclear amenities in 2025, Mr. Trump mentioned Gabbard was “improper” when she testified to lawmakers earlier that 12 months that Iran wasn’t constructing a nuclear weapon. Following Mr. Trump’s dismissal of the evaluation, Gabbard accused the media of “taking my testimony out of context.”
Gabbard additionally raised alarms in January when she appeared at elections headquarters in Fulton County, Georgia, whereas the FBI executed a search warrant and took ballots and different data associated to the 2020 election. Democrats questioned why the intelligence chief was concerned in home legislation enforcement operations.
As DNI, Gabbard mentioned final summer time she would slash her workplace’s employees by round 40%, reducing its headcount to round 1,300. She estimated the cuts would save round $700 million yearly. Gabbard mentioned on the time that the ODNI had develop into “bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence neighborhood is rife with abuse of energy.”
In a press release about her departure, GOP Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, the chairman of the Home Intelligence Committee, mentioned Gabbard made “vital progress” on Mr. Trump’s priorities, together with “implementing wanted reforms to deal with the weaponization and politicization” of the intelligence neighborhood and “taking actionable steps to extend transparency.”
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the highest Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, mentioned in a press release that Gabbard’s alternative “have to be dedicated to restoring belief within the workplace, defending the integrity of our intelligence, and guaranteeing our nation’s intelligence professionals can converse reality to energy, with out worry or interference.”
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer mentioned the president “should not deal with this emptiness as one other alternative to reward loyalty over competence.”
“Senate Democrats will combat any nominee who places Trump’s politics forward of America’s safety,” the New York Democrat mentioned.