Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Director of National Intelligence, Citing Her Husband's Cancer Diagnosis

Tulsi Gabbard announced on May 22 that she was resigning as Director of National Intelligence, citing her husband's diagnosis with a rare bone cancer. Her departure ended a tenure marked by repeated conflict over intelligence assessments, including disputes with the White House over analyses of Iran's nuclear program and over personnel at the National Intelligence Council.

The DNI position was created after the September 11 attacks to coordinate the intelligence community and, in principle, to deliver assessments to the president regardless of whether they support administration policy. Turnover in that role during an active military conflict with Iran leaves the coordination function in acting hands at a moment when the accuracy and independence of intelligence about that conflict is itself contested — a concern sharpened by the removal of the Defense Intelligence Agency director in 2025 after an Iran damage assessment displeased the president.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus had separately called for Gabbard's resignation earlier. The office subsequently operated under acting leadership; by July, reporting described more than 200 job cuts at ODNI since June and dozens of officials fired by the acting director.