By Erin Banco
NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Staff at the office of the top U.S. spy have been told by managers to expect extensive cuts in the coming months following comments by President Donald Trump that he wants the new interim director to shrink the agency's ranks, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Trump announced last week that he would appoint federal housing regulator Bill Pulte as interim Director of National Intelligence when Tulsi Gabbard leaves her post later this month,
a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats and some Republicans given Pulte's lack of intelligence experience.
Trump said he thought Pulte should make further staff cuts at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, an agency created after the attacks of September 11, 2001, to coordinate the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies and which some Republicans say has become bloated.
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview last week.
The sources were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive internal matters.
Gabbard has already cut the workforce of the agency by about 40% since taking up the position last year. It is unclear how many staff remain at the agency, which had more than 1,000 people previously.
Following Gabbard's restructuring last year, some employees found their jobs eliminated, though they were not fired and instead labeled as "excess to need," two of the sources said.
Some of those employees have since left the agency. Others were told by agency management in recent weeks that they would likely not be placed in another permanent position and that they should seek employment elsewhere, the sources said.
"Trump's announcement has essentially accelerated their exit," one of those sources said.
An intelligence official told Reuters that all those employees had already "moved on to other opportunities."
Asked for comment on more cuts expected at the agency, ODNI spokeswoman Olivia Coleman said that Gabbard's initial workforce reduction saved "nearly $1 billion, making the agency exponentially more efficient and effective in delivering results for the American people."
TENSIONS BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
Pulte's appointment as interim Director of National Intelligence comes amid a turf war between ODNI and the CIA - a rift that originated with Gabbard's formation of a task force with the stated goal of "rooting out" politicization from the intelligence community.
The infighting has led to a breakdown in collaboration between the agencies, particularly on analytical products, as Reuters previously reported.
Further cuts at ODNI would likely reduce the number of staff assisting the National Intelligence Council, the premier analytical group inside the intelligence community, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
That group has already faced setbacks following Gabbard's cuts last year, which included the firing of two CIA officers who served on the NIC.
The CIA is also no longer contributing to some of the council's intelligence assessments as a result of its tensions with ODNI, people familiar with the matter have said.
Some Republicans have called for the abolishment of ODNI, arguing the agency has become too big.
"I've long advocated for downsizing, if not outright eliminating this bureaucracy," said Senator Tom Cotton, the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, on X last week.
Pulte's appointment has also complicated efforts to reauthorize a key surveillance authority, with Democrats threatening to block the renewal unless Trump reconsiders his decision. Pulte's critics say he is likely to further politicize the intelligence community, citing his lack of experience and loyalty to Trump.
The authority, known as FISA 702, allows U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor emails and other communications of foreigners located outside the United States without individual judicial warrants. The authority is set to expire Friday.
(Reporting by Erin Banco; Editing by Don Durfee and Deepa Babington)
