The Trump administration is intensifying its effort to pare back the intelligence bureaucracy, moving aggressively against what allies describe as entrenched Deep State resistance inside the nations spy agencies.
According to RedState, Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has launched a fourth wave of layoffs and internal reshuffling at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the central coordinating hub for 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. Pulte announced the latest cuts in a statement on X, underscoring that the changes are part of a deliberate strategy to streamline the office and restore its focus on core national security responsibilities.
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 wrote, emphasizing that the process has been measured rather than haphazard. As of this evening, we just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs. Thank you! he added, signaling that the shake-up is far from a mere symbolic gesture.
The ODNI, created in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks to coordinate the sprawling U.S. intelligence apparatus, has long been criticized by conservatives as a bloated layer of bureaucracy that dilutes accountability and fosters politicization. This latest announcement follows three earlier rounds of reductions, with CBS News reporting in late June that more than 50 intelligence officials had already been affected through layoffs and reassignments.
CNN reported that six staffers appointed by former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were among those dismissed, highlighting how the restructuring is reaching into the upper echelons of the agencys leadership. The timing of the cuts is notable, coming as the Trump administration continues to confront what it views as institutional resistance from career officials who opposed his agenda from the outset.
Pulte has simultaneously sought to reassure frontline personnel that the administration values those who are focused on mission rather than politics. On X, he praised the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), writing, Today, I spent time with the National Counterterrorism Center team, who is doing an incredible job protecting our Country under President Trumps leadership. The room was filled with true professionals and American patriots. It is a privilege to work beside them.
The current wave of reductions traces back to June 1, roughly a week after Tulsi Gabbard resigned as DNI director, citing a serious health crisis in her family. In her resignation letter, which she posted publicly, Gabbard wrote, "Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026," adding, "My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer."
The Washington Post reported that ODNI had quietly cut about 200 jobs since June 1, a figure that underscores the scale of the restructuring. The paper noted that the office, which had about 2,000 employees at the start of President Trumps second term, is now little more than half that size, according to congressional aides, reflecting a dramatic rollback of an agency many Republicans believe has strayed far beyond its original mandate.
Critics on the left have framed the moves as a purge of career professionals, but even mainstream outlets have acknowledged that the administration is specifically targeting those it believes are part of an entrenched anti-Trump bureaucracy. MS Now reported that the Trump team was removing officials who they believe are deep state, citing an intelligence source familiar with the process.
NBC News went further, declaring that The deep state firings have begun, and offered a glimpse into one of the key areas under scrutiny. A separate source told the network that Pulte had directed staff to identify 400 employees to be dismissed from the National Counterterrorism Center in the coming weeks, a move that would significantly reshape one of the most sensitive components of the intelligence community.
According to that report, Pulte issued the order late on a Thursday, before he had formally assumed the DNI role from Gabbard, and he officially started the job the following Friday. The prospective cuts at the NCTC are said to focus on an office established after the September 11, 2001 attacks to track terrorist threats, monitor suspected militants, and consolidate intelligence from across federal agencies.
While legacy media outlets have largely focused on the disruption and internal anxiety these layoffs may cause, they have offered little context about why many conservatives view this downsizing as overdue. President Trump has faced unrelenting hostility from elements within the intelligence and law enforcement communities since his 2016 campaign, when FBI and CIA counterintelligence figures pushed the discredited Russia collusion narrative as a pretext to surveil his team and undermine his incoming administration.
For Trump supporters and many Republicans in Congress, the current ODNI overhaul is not an attack on national security but an attempt to restore it by dismantling a politicized Deep State that has operated with too little oversight for too long. As the cuts continue and the ODNI shrinks to a fraction of its former size, the central question is whether a leaner, more accountable intelligence structure can better serve the American people without the ideological baggage that has plagued it for the past decade.
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