Firings have begun at the Office of Director of National Intelligence, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The large-scale cuts were considered by President Donald Trump’s acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte.

Background

Pulte was appointed by Trump and has been looking at cutting hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Last week, Pulte showed up to his new job a day early and asked for a list of every employee in the office, sources told CNN.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center were expected to be hit hard by the cuts.

Top Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees sent a letter to Pulte warning him of the risks of making large cuts to the workforce. Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes wrote, “We are concerned by reports that you intend to fire or place on leave hundreds of Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) officers as soon as this week.”

The lawmakers continued, “While there is room to consider responsible reductions to ODNI’s workforce, any large cuts would follow on a substantial downsizing that has already occurred in 2025 and risk jeopardizing the mission of an organization explicitly created after 9/11 to prevent any future such terrorist attack.”

When asked about the firings, a White House official pointed to Trump’s recent post on Truth Social in which he telegraphed “downsizing” in the office. Trump wrote, “I have named William Pulte to be Acting Director of National Intelligence, who will take over on June 19th, and have asked him to execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies.”

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.