Tulsi Gabbard resigned as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence on Friday, saying she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer. She is the fourth Cabinet official to depart during Trump’s second term. There had been rumblings that Gabbard would split with the president after he decided to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration.
Senate Democrat says Gabbard replacement needs to restore trust in top intelligence post
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate’s Intelligence committee, said that with Gabbard’s departure, her successor should help restore the reputation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Warner said that “at a time when the boundaries between verified intelligence and politically convenient claims have too often been blurred...the next DNI must be committed to restoring trust in the office, protecting the integrity of our intelligence, and ensuring our nation’s intelligence professionals can speak truth to power, without fear or interference” in a statement released shortly after Gabbard’s resignation became public.
Last summer, Gabbard revoked the security clearances of dozens of U.S. officials who she said had engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance personal or partisan goals, failing to safeguard classified information, failing to “adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards” and other unspecified “detrimental” conduct in a memo released at the time.
Trump says Gabbard did ‘a great job’ in the post she’s leaving
In a social media post, the president wrote that Gabbard was “unfortunately” leaving his administration at the end of June.
“Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him,” Trump wrote.
He added, “Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her,” and that Gabbard’s “highly respected Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.”
Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence, citing her husband’s health
Gabbard has resigned as Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer.
She is the fourth Cabinet official to depart during Trump’s second term. In her resignation letter, which she posted on the social platform X, she wrote: “Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
There had been rumblings that Gabbard would split with Trump after he decided to strike Iran, which caused some division within his administration. Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation in March, saying he “cannot in good conscience” support the war.
Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii known for opposing foreign wars, faced an awkward moment when the U.S. joined Israel’s attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
