Tulsi Gabbard Takes the Exit Ramp

Tulsi Gabbard resigned as Director of National Intelligence after serving about 15 months. The role is intended to make the DNI the president’s chief intelligence adviser, but her views often conflicted with administration actions. During her tenure, she testified that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, and Trump responded that he did not care what she said. Gabbard had long opposed U.S. military intervention in Iran and did not publicly support the decision to go to war. Her resignation letter stated she would step down on June 30 after learning her husband, Abraham Williams, has rare bone cancer. The Iran war likely made leaving a simpler decision.

"By law, the DNI is supposed to serve as the president's chief intelligence adviser. Gabbard never was, and many of her stances were at odds with administration actions. Trump was contemptuous of even her modest efforts to speak truth to power. In the spring of 2025, when Gabbard testified to the intelligence community's consensus view that Iran " is not building a nuclear weapon," Trump replied, "I don't care what she said.""

"Gabbard has long opposed U.S. military intervention in Iran and did not publicly come out in support of Trump's decision to go to war. One of her top lieutenants quit in protest of the war. In her resignation letter, Gabbard told Trump that she would step down on June 30, having recently learned that her husband, Abraham Williams, has a rare type of bone cancer."

""Abraham has been my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage," Gabbard wrote. People who know the couple have told me that they are exceptionally close; Williams, a video producer and cinematographer, has filmed Gabbard throughout her time in public service, including when she took a trip to Syria to meet the dictator Bashar al-Assad while serving as a Democratic member of Congress."

"Contrary to the Washington cliché, there's every reason to think that Gabbard really does want to spend more time with her family. But the Iran war likely made leaving an easier choice. It's surprising that Gabbard lasted this long in her job. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who served as DNI in Trump's first term, has assumed"

Read at The Atlantic