President Trump has announced his intent to nominate Jay Clayton as the director of National Intelligence, with the controversial Bill Pulte set to take the reins as acting director upon Tulsi Gabbard’s accelerated departure last week. While it remains to be seen how long Pulte will serve in the role, Trump has stated that he intends to have Pulte reduce the size of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), calling it “unnecessary and/or too big.”
Apparently not content with the reported 40 percent workforce reduction and declining morale inflicted by Gabbard, Trump is pushing for Clayton to lead a dramatically smaller and weaker office. This would be a massive mistake that undermines the necessary role ODNI plays in coordinating the 18 organizations comprising the intelligence community.
ODNI is not a perfect organization, and there are reforms to be made. Its mission and its staff size have grown over time, and careful study is warranted in order to right-size both. However, as Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) stated, serious discussion is necessary before dismantling organizations created to address failures identified after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Reducing the office’s ability to deconflict intelligence collection resources and provide strategic guidance on national intelligence priorities would be a colossal step backward and would make America less safe.
