It is expected that hundreds of employees will be cut, despite warnings that this move could affect US counter-terrorism efforts.
Anadolu news agency on June 22 (US time) said that President Donald Trump's administration has begun implementing a massive dismissal plan at the top US intelligence coordination agency. The dismissal notice has been sent to hundreds of employees of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) under the direction of Acting Director Bill Pulte. The appointment of Mr. Pulte previously caused much controversy in the US Congress because he had no experience in the field of intelligence.
The dismissal has begun," a source said, but the specific number of positions cut has not yet been announced. According to international media, Mr. Pulte arrived to receive his assignment one day earlier than expected last week and requested to provide a full list of personnel of the agency. The two units that will be most affected are the National Anti-Terrorism Center and the National Intelligence and Security Center.
A source said that Mr. Pulte has directed the identification of about 400 employees at the National Anti-Terrorism Center to be included in the reduction in the coming weeks, which could affect the US government's ability to detect and prevent terrorist plots. This center was established after the September 11, 2001 attack with the task of monitoring terrorist threats, monitoring suspected extremists and compiling information from many federal agencies.
The cuts were implemented despite warnings from senior Democratic members in the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. In a letter to Mr. Pulte on June 22, Senator Mark Warner and Congressman Jim Himes expressed concern about potential risks. "We are concerned about reports that he intends to fire or dismiss hundreds of officers from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence this week," the two senators wrote.
The letter emphasized that any large-scale cuts would continue the significant shrinking process that took place in 2025, which risks affecting the mission of the agency established after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to prevent similar attacks.
The two MPs argued that with limited experience in the intelligence community, it is difficult to assert that the ODNI director-in-chief has sufficient grounds to make broad restructuring decisions without risking national security, and emphasized that this is not a suitable decision for a leader holding an interim position without full consultation with Congress.
When asked about the dismissal plan, the White House quoted a recent post on President Trump's social media, in which he said he had asked Mr. Pulte to "immediately carry out the necessary streamlining of the office and transfer personnel back to the governing bodies".
