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Spy chief Tulsi Gabbard faces new crushing blow after Trump sidelined her over Iran nuclear strikes
Tulsi Gabbard is facing another blow after President Donald Trump sidelined her during the Iran nuclear strikes.
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee, has proposed legislation to slash the size of her agency in half.
'ODNI was intended to be a lean organization to align America's intelligence resources and authorities, not the overstaffed and bureaucratic behemoth that it is today,' he said in a statement announcing his proposal.
Cotton's bill - if passed - would provide a sweeping overhaul of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), including cutting its staff from 1,600 to 650. It would also shutter the National Intelligence University, a federally chartered research university dedicated to national security.
There are indications Trump would sign it into law. He's privately mulled scrapping the ODNI because of his frustrations with Gabbard, The Atlantic reported.
And that would hamper Gabbard's political ambitions. Her allies told the magazine that Gabbard sees the director of national intelligence role as a stepping stone to a second run for the presidency after her failed attempt as a Democrat in 2020.
Trump has had an uneasy relationship with Gabbard, particularly after she posted a video to social media earlier this month describing her visit to Hiroshima, Japan, and warning of the dangerous threat of a nuclear war.
The president berated her for the video, reported The New York Times, saying that a discussion of nuclear annihilation would scare people and she shouldn't discuss it.
That meant Gabbard was already on thin ice when Trump began to look at striking Iran's nuclear sites. She had privately expressed concern about the fears of a wider war.
And Trump flat out said 'she's wrong' when he was asked about Gabbard's testimony in March that Iran had not decided to build a nuclear weapon.
While Gabbard was in the Situation Room during the strike, she became sidelined in the aftermath of the attack.
And Gabbard didn't join the classified intelligence briefing for senators on Thursday nor did she join the one for House members on Friday.
Her defenders say she is still doing important work for the administration.
She has publicly supported the airstrike and she has defended Trump's declaration that Iran's nuclear capabilities were destroyed.
'New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran's nuclear facilities have been destroyed,' she wrote on X.
But that doesn't mean the two are close.
And Gabbard's position is not helped by Trump's inherent distrust of the intelligence community, which goes back to his first presidential campaign and allegations Russia interfered to help him win the White House.
A Trump ally told The Atlantic the president appreciates Gabbard's political appeal to disaffected Democrats but doesn't seek her advice on foreign policy or national security.
'She's a nonplayer,' the person said. 'When I want to call someone to influence Trump, I don't even think of her.'
Her position in Trump's world was precarious from the start, given her position.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is a smaller agency with a short-lived history. It was created to improve coordination among U.S. spy agencies after the September 11 attacks.
It oversees all of the country's 18 intelligence services, including the CIA. But CIA director John Ratcliffe served in Trump's first term and has his own strong relationship with the president.
Gabbard has already cut the agency by 25% in line with Trump's efforts at slashing the size of the federal government.
