WASHINGTON — United States (US) President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday her office will cut its workforce by more than 40 percent, a move she said would save over $700 million annually.
“Over the last 20 years, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Odni) has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and the politicized weaponization of intelligence,” Gabbard said in a statement.
The move aims to enable the office “to focus on fulfilling its critical role of serving as the central hub for intelligence integration, strategic guidance and oversight of the intelligence community,” according to the statement.
The Odni was created after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, exposed systemic failures across the intelligence community. Its purpose was to integrate intelligence from all 18 intelligence agencies and provide oversight to ensure the intelligence given to the president and policymakers is timely, accurate and apolitical, the statement said. / XINHUA
