Pulte’s early ODNI cuts include dozens sent back to home agencies

Changes at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under its new acting head Bill Pulte include a small number of staff exits and the return of roughly four dozen career officers to their home agencies, according to floor remarks that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., gave Wednesday.

Cotton said Pulte told him in recent days that a “small handful” of front-office personnel are leaving federal employment and that “around 45 or 50” career officers are returning to their home agencies. Many staff in the office serve on joint duty assignments, where they are temporarily detailed from other intelligence units to ODNI.

The remarks align with earlier reporting from CBS News and others indicating that six career and political staff had been terminated and 45 personnel had been sent back to their home agencies after Pulte became acting DNI.

ODNI was created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to improve coordination across the intelligence community. The office has faced criticism from lawmakers and former intelligence officials who argue it has grown too large and bureaucratic. 

The National Counterterrorism Center in ODNI was rumored to have been an initial target for reductions, based on discussions with current and former officials, though exact changes to the center, along with any future planned staffing cuts, are unclear.

“Today, I spent time with the National Counterterrorism Center team, who is doing an incredible job protecting our Country under President Trump’s leadership,” Pulte said in a Tuesday night X post. “The room was filled with true professionals and American patriots. It is a privilege to work beside them.” 

The latest moves come as Pulte has taken temporary control of the office following the departure of former DNI Tulsi Gabbard and as the White House seeks to install Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee to serve as the Senate-confirmed intelligence chief. A planned confirmation hearing for Clayton was postponed last week after Trump called on Congress to prioritize advancing a controversial voting bill instead.

Trump has said he wants Pulte to further shrink ODNI and continue election-related investigations launched under Gabbard. 

Cotton said Wednesday that Pulte agrees “in general terms” with the need to return ODNI to its “original size, scope and mission,” including by spinning off some functional centers and sending detailed intelligence officers back to their home agencies.

Under Gabbard, ODNI also announced plans to reduce its workforce by roughly 40%, casting the cuts as a streamlining effort that would save more than $700 million a year.

That agenda has drawn sharp concern from Democrats, who on Monday warned Pulte against making major changes while serving in an acting capacity, including large-scale personnel cuts or declassification decisions they said would be more appropriately left to a Senate-confirmed director.

Since Pulte’s appointment, key Democrats have refused to support an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a powerful spying authority that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications from foreign targets abroad without a warrant. The standoff allowed the provision to statutorily expire earlier this month.

“Given your lack of experience within the Intelligence Community, it is difficult to imagine that in such a short amount of time you have already developed fully-informed views as to how to shrink ODNI without incurring risks to national security,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote in a letter to Pulte.

Democrats have scrutinized Pulte’s appointment because of his role as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he helped oversee mortgage fraud reviews that targeted some of Trump’s perceived political opponents. In their letter, Himes and Warner said Pulte’s record at FHFA showed “a willingness to misuse your position, including your access to sensitive information,” and warned him not to use ODNI authorities in a similar way.

Cotton said Wednesday that the early downsizing effort could benefit Clayton once he is confirmed, allowing him to inherit an organization that has already begun to shrink. He said he aims to hold a confirmation hearing for Clayton “in the weeks ahead.”