Office of the Director of National Intelligence news
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The gist
The US has shrunk the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and shifted its counterterrorism.
The office created after 9/11 to share intelligence is being remade, raising questions about.
Background
ODNI was created by the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act to fix intelligence-sharing gaps exposed by 9/11. Over the past year the administration has cut its workforce and consolidated functions, saying the office was bloated and duplicated other agencies. The National Counterterrorism Center inside ODNI has also shrunk and now devotes roughly a quarter to a third of its budget and personnel to countering narcotics rather than international terrorism, according to former senior US officials. The FBI's Foreign Malign Influence Task Force, the State Department's Global Engagement Center and ODNI's Foreign Malign Influence Center were shut down over the past year.
How it unfolded
- late 2004Congress creates the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to integrate intelligence across agencies after the 9/11 failures.
- recentlyThe FBI's Foreign Malign Influence Task Force, the State Department's Global Engagement Center and ODNI's Foreign Malign Influence Center are shut down over the past year.
- Aug 3, 2026Jay Clayton becomes Director of National Intelligence, succeeding Tulsi Gabbard.
- Aug 24, 2026Rep. Anna Paulina Luna introduces a bipartisan bill requiring influencers to disclose payments from foreign governments.
- Sep 7, 2026The House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Rep. Rick Crawford, is set to revive a proposal to centralise counter-espionage activities within ODNI.
- Sep 9, 2026A committee is set to examine covert foreign influence operations.
Who’s saying what
- Critics
- Former ODNI official Curlee said the office was long seen as weak but relatively harmless, and that a weaponized DNI shows how dangerous the entity could be.
- Support
- The administration has sought to shrink ODNI's workforce and consolidate its functions on grounds that the office has become bloated and duplicates work performed elsewhere in the intelligence community.
- Expert
- Former DNI Clapper said he does think there is a need for an overall champion of collaboration and integration.
- Official
- The FBI argued in a statement that its counterterrorism work is as successful as it ever has been, saying it has disrupted more than 1,000 terrorists and 55 foreign terrorist organizations and conducted more than 4,000 related arrests.
Still unverified
The article states that ODNI has been central to pushing false election conspiracies and retribution against perceived political enemies, attributed to current and former officials; this is a contested characterization. The claim that ODNI's cuts also hit counternarcotics despite the administration making the issue a top priority is from a subscriber-only report. ODNI did not respond to a request for comment.