Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday that her office will slash nearly half its staff and merge several intelligence centers under a major restructuring effort known as “ODNI 2.0.”
Described as the most significant reform since the office was created after the September 11 attacks, the initiative is projected to save more than $700 million annually while narrowing ODNI’s focus to its core mission of integrating and overseeing the intelligence community, officials said.
Under the restructuring, the Foreign Malign Influence Center, National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center will be dissolved, with their responsibilities absorbed by ODNI’s Mission Integration directorate and the National Intelligence Council.
The National Counterterrorism Center, led by newly confirmed director Joe Kent, will narrow its focus back to counterterrorism while also expanding into counternarcotics operations. Officials said the shift reflects President Trump’s directive to treat drug trafficking as a national security threat and builds on work already underway this year.
The National Intelligence University will transfer to the Department of Defense and merge with the National Defense University. The move is intended to integrate intelligence training with defense priorities and eliminate duplication.
The National Intelligence Managers and the National Intelligence Management Council will be consolidated under the National Intelligence Officer structure. Cuts will also target contractor-heavy programs and outdated systems, with ODNI projecting close to $1 billion in recurring annual savings by removing duplicative HR and analytic platforms across the 18 intelligence agencies.
The overhaul includes major investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced data systems. One senior official noted that some ODNI technology has gone two decades without updates. Gabbard said modernizing analytic tradecraft with AI will be a priority, while stressing that analysts will not be replaced by machines.
Additional closures include the External Research Council, described by Gabbard’s office as a partisan body that politicized intelligence work, and the Strategic Futures Group, accused of advancing “deep state” political agendas through its Global Trends report. ODNI will also close its Reston, Virginia campus and consolidate operations at headquarters.
