A major shakeup is underway in the United States intelligence community, with the office of the Director of National Intelligence carrying out a wave of firings. According to the coverage, Bill Pulte, the new acting Director of National Intelligence, has started firing people. The move has raised immediate concern among lawmakers about its impact on national security.
The full scope of the cuts is not yet clear. According to sources cited in the report, it is unclear how many jobs have been impacted, but the National Counterterrorism Center is expected to be hit hard. The agency has not responded to a request for comment, leaving key details of the downsizing unconfirmed for now.
The White House framed the move as carrying out a presidential instruction. It pointed to a social media post from the president earlier this month, in which he asked Pulte to, in his words, execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office. That directive was presented as the basis for the firings now taking place.
Pulte took over the job only recently, having stepped into the role the previous Friday. He did so despite bipartisan pushback about his qualifications. One lawmaker said there was no evidence of any qualifications for the job, calling it stunning that someone with what was described as zero national security or intelligence experience had been chosen to lead the office.
The firings came as top Democrats in Congress pushed back directly. In a letter, they warned Pulte not to cut the agency's workforce, reminding him that his role is temporary and that he is serving in an acting capacity. They raised concerns about his authority to declassify material and what they described as a willingness to misuse his authority, noting that a permanent director would need to be confirmed by the Senate. According to the report, that letter was sent one day before the firings took place.
The focus on the National Counterterrorism Center drew particular attention given recent turmoil there. According to the coverage, in March the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, resigned over his opposition to the Iran war. He had said that Israel drove the decision to strike Iran and rejected the idea that there was an imminent threat to the United States, context that observers connected to the latest moves at the office.