The New MAGA Turf War Over National Intelligence

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is facing reform efforts, with Republicans agreeing that the agency needs to change. The ODNI was created after 9/11 to oversee the 18 US intelligence agencies, but it has become bureaucratic and sprawling. Two MAGA heavyweights, Tulsi Gabbard and Tom Cotton, are shaping the reform efforts. Gabbard, the current Director of National Intelligence, has already cut the ODNI workforce by 25% and is planning further reforms. Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has introduced legislation to shrink the agency's size and transfer some responsibilities to other intel agencies. The bill aims to create a "lean organization" and cap the ODNI workforce at 650 employees. The reform efforts have sparked a debate within the GOP, with some supporting Gabbard's approach and others backing Cotton's bill. The White House has stated that President Trump's relationship with Gabbard and the intelligence community remains strong, and there are no plans to merge the ODNI with the CIA. The ODNI was established in 2004 to integrate the intelligence community, but it has struggled to wrangle the vast intelligence apparatus due to lack of authority. The agency's reform is part of a larger experiment to redefine the role of the intelligence community in the US.