Office of the Director of National Intelligence
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence coordinates the sixteen agencies of the U.S. intelligence community and advises the President on intelligence matters. All of its entries fall in 2026 and record successive rounds of staffing reductions and the handling of intelligence assessments and referrals. It is recorded separately from the individual Directors who led it.
2026 Events (11)
Acting DNI Pulte announced a fifth, 'near final' round of ODNI terminations, citing a roughly 30% staff reduction
On July 28, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte posted on X that ODNI was "Executing a 5th and Near Final Round of TERMINATIONS, an approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago," framing the cuts as necessary so the intelligence community would "protect the American people, NOT the political whims of the bloated and corrupt elite class." The announcement came hours before the Senate's confirmation vote on permanent DNI nominee Jay Clayton and one day after a fourth round of cuts.
Acting DNI Pulte announced a fourth round of ODNI staff cuts, again without disclosing numbers or positions affected
On July 27, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte posted on X that ODNI had "just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs," continuing a pattern of unquantified staff reductions dating to his June 22 directive. Pulte did not disclose how many employees were affected, which positions were eliminated, or whether staff were terminated or reassigned. The announcement came as the Senate considered permanent DNI nominee Jay Clayton's confirmation.
Acting DNI Pulte announced a third round of ODNI staff cuts, again declining to disclose numbers or positions affected
On July 10, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte announced on X that ODNI had begun a third round of staff reductions, describing the office as "reducing redundant, or non-critical, personnel." As with the prior rounds, Pulte did not disclose how many employees were affected, which positions were eliminated, or whether staff were fired outright or reassigned. The announcement followed the first round of firings on June 23 and preceded a fourth round on July 27.
Acting DNI Pulte named RNC election operative Christina Norton, who lacks intelligence experience, ODNI chief of staff
On June 26, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte named Christina Norton — the former "election integrity" director of the Republican National Committee — as chief of staff of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Norton, who has no known intelligence or national-security background, had overseen the RNC's 2024 poll-watching operation and, on a 2024 organizing call, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Former intelligence officials and Democratic lawmakers warned that the appointment signaled ODNI would be turned toward pursuing election-fraud claims ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Acting DNI Pulte fired six political appointees and removed dozens of career intelligence officers in first ODNI purge round
On June 23, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte carried out the first round of removals under his ODNI purge: six political appointees installed by former Director Tulsi Gabbard were fired, and roughly 45 career intelligence officers on joint-duty assignment were stripped of their details and sent back to their home agencies, with additional career officials removed from their positions, according to CNN and CBS News. The cuts followed Pulte's June 22 directive ordering ODNI offices to submit ranked lists of personnel for removal.
Acting DNI Pulte ordered ODNI offices to rank personnel for mass firings, targeting career intelligence professionals
On June 22, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte directed Office of the Director of National Intelligence offices to submit ranked lists of their personnel for cuts, beginning an expected mass purge of career intelligence professionals. The National Counterterrorism Center and National Counterintelligence and Security Center were identified as facing the deepest cuts. Pulte, who has no national-security background, assumed the acting DNI role on June 19 following Tulsi Gabbard's departure, and the firings proceed under a June 5 Trump directive to reduce the size of the intelligence community.
ODNI terminated its Puerto Rico voting-machine security contractor after a Trump adviser pushed back on findings that found no fraud
Reuters reported on April 23, 2026, that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence terminated its contract with cybersecurity firm Mojave Research in October 2025, after Trump adviser Kurt Olsen pressured the company over its inability to substantiate voter-fraud claims in its analysis of Puerto Rico's voting machines and accused it of secretly receiving funding from George Soros. Mojave, hired in 2025 to test the machines for security vulnerabilities, found genuine software flaws but no evidence that votes had been altered or that the flaws had been exploited; ODNI has said the contract simply ended because the analysis was complete. Later reporting by Nextgov/FCW and CNN in August 2026 detailed the pressure campaign, including Olsen's repeated interventions in ODNI meetings and the cancellation of a planned expansion of Mojave's team from roughly 10 to 60 people.
DNI Gabbard sent DOJ a criminal referral targeting the 2019 impeachment whistleblower and IG who validated the complaint
On April 15, 2026, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's office confirmed it had sent the Justice Department a criminal referral seeking investigation of the anonymous whistleblower whose 2019 complaint about President Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy triggered Trump's first impeachment, along with then-Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who reviewed and forwarded that complaint to Congress. The referral followed Gabbard's release, days earlier, of declassified documents she said exposed a "conspiracy used by Congress to impeach President Trump." Trump fired Atkinson in April 2020.
Gabbard's 2026 threat assessment drops climate and foreign election-interference analysis
On March 18, 2026, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released the Intelligence Community's 2026 Annual Threat Assessment and testified to the Senate and House intelligence committees. The assessment omitted the climate-and-environment analysis prior editions had carried — after Gabbard gutted the National Intelligence Council office covering those issues — and Gabbard told lawmakers the IC found no evidence of foreign threats to the November 2026 midterms, a departure from the community's prior findings on Russian and other election interference. Critics charged that the IC's flagship analytic product was being shaped to fit White House messaging.
ODNI general counsel warned whistleblower's attorney against briefing Congress on classified Gabbard complaint
On February 9, 2026, the general counsel's office for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sent a letter warning attorney Andrew Bakaj — who represents an anonymous intelligence-community whistleblower alleging Gabbard withheld top-secret material for political reasons — against directly briefing members of Congress on the classified complaint, citing the risk that Bakaj or his client could face criminal charges for mishandling classified information. The complaint had not reached the "Gang of Eight" congressional leaders until roughly eight months after it was filed, prompting Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats to demand answers about the delay.
Gabbard's ODNI confirmed it covertly obtained and tested Puerto Rico voting machines, drawing expert alarm over its authority
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, under Director Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed to reporters on February 4, 2026 that it had obtained electronic voting machines from Puerto Rico and tested them for security vulnerabilities, with the U.S. Attorney in Puerto Rico, Homeland Security Investigations agents, and an FBI supervisory special agent facilitating the turnover; ODNI cited "extremely concerning" cybersecurity findings without supporting detail and has not disclosed exactly when the machines were obtained or tested beyond saying it occurred "last year." A former senior U.S. intelligence official who has worked on election security called the action "well beyond what ODNI has the authority or expertise to do," and Puerto Rico's nonvoting congressional representative, Pablo José Hernández, said the administration has not explained why Gabbard's office was involved. The disclosure follows Gabbard's presence at an FBI search of a Fulton County, Georgia election office and Trump's calls to "nationalize" future elections.