Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte said another round of layoffs had been completed as the Trump administration continues reducing and restructuring the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte announced Sunday evening that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had completed a fourth round of staff reductions, continuing a broader restructuring that has affected dozens of intelligence personnel.
Pulte said the changes were intended to reduce the agency’s size and return its work to the responsibilities established under federal law.
“Since becoming Acting Director of National Intelligence, our team has been smartly, and carefully, reducing the size of ODNI, re-focusing ODNI on national security, the law, and the statute,” Pulte said.
“As of this evening, we just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs. Thank you!” he said in an announcement on X.
The latest personnel action follows several earlier rounds of dismissals and reassignments under Pulte’s leadership. More than 50 career intelligence officials had reportedly been fired or returned to their original agencies by last month.
“The Deep State firings have begun,” a source told CNN last month.
CBS News previously reported that Pulte dismissed six political intelligence staff members and directed 45 additional employees to return to the federal agencies from which they had been assigned.
CNN separately reported that six political appointees selected by former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were among those removed.
Pulte praised other members of the intelligence community following a visit last month to the National Counterterrorism Center.
“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. “The room was filled with true professionals and American patriots. It is a privilege to work beside them.”
MS NOW reported that another group of intelligence officials was dismissed earlier this month, preceding the fourth round announced Sunday.
The continuing turnover comes as President Donald Trump seeks Senate confirmation of Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to become the next director of national intelligence.
Trump previously announced Clayton’s nomination but delayed the confirmation process until senators approve a successor to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York.
That delay has left Pulte serving as acting director while overseeing the ongoing reductions and organizational changes at ODNI.
Clayton is expected to receive Senate confirmation early this week, which would end Pulte’s interim leadership once the incoming director takes office.
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