Intelligence Office to Cut 40% of Workforce, $700M From Budget

President Trump has directed incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to begin reducing staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The instruction calls for trimming positions viewed as unnecessary and continuing those reductions once a permanent director is named. The office had roughly 1,800 employees at the start of the current term.

The previous director cut nearly 30 percent of the staff after Senate confirmation, and the office released a fact sheet in August 2025 outlining further planned reductions. S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the National Security Agency.

The incoming acting director will continue serving as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency until a permanent replacement is nominated. The acting director has no prior experience at an intelligence agency. Officials stated that the role is temporary and that a permanent nominee will be selected later.

President Trump said on Friday that he wants Bill Pulte to cut the office. ” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Wisconsin that Bill Pulte is very good and very talented. President Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he has asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees.

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said. He told the Journal that he wants Pulte to “start the process” of firing personnel and that the eventual permanent director of national intelligence should continue it.

The president has indicated that he would not formally nominate Pulte for the position. “Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump said. Pulte was tapped by the president earlier this week.

Under Pulte’s successor Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence's office had already taken steps to scale back its size. In August the Trump administration said that the office’s budget would be cut by more than $700 million per year while slashing the size of its workforce. Gabbard announced the roughly 40% workforce reduction.

Gabbard resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.