Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, has announced significant changes to the agency, including plans to reduce staff by approximately 50% and decrease the annual budget by $700 million. Gabbard described the agency as having become “bloated and inefficient” over the past 20 years and indicated that the restructuring aims to consolidate teams and enhance the agency’s mission of providing objective and timely intelligence.
This announcement coincided with Gabbard’s directive to revoke the security clearances of 37 current and former U.S. officials, a decision attributed to orders from President Trump. In a memo shared on social media, Gabbard accused these officials of politicizing intelligence for personal gain but did not provide supporting evidence for these claims. The officials targeted by this action include former national security aides from Democratic administrations.
Security clearances are crucial for accessing sensitive government information, and some former officials retain these clearances to advise their successors, though it remains unclear if all individuals on the list currently hold active clearances. Gabbard reiterated that being granted a security clearance is a privilege and stated that the revocations were justified due to a perceived betrayal of public trust by those involved.
The Trump administration has previously revoked security clearances for various officials, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, particularly those involved in investigations related to the January 6 Capitol riot. Gabbard has recently focused criticism on Obama-era intelligence officials who asserted that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
While Trump and Gabbard have labeled the intelligence community’s assessments as conspiratorial, critics, including Democratic representatives, have dismissed the actions as politically motivated distractions from more pressing issues, including Trump’s connections to other controversies.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78mj2m85pno?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss