Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The acting spy chief announces a fifth round of ODNI terminations, “a 30% staff reduction,” hours before his replacement is confirmed
Bill Pulte posted on X on July 28, 2026 without saying how many people were affected, what baseline the 30% referred to, or whether they were fired or sent back to their home agencies.
What happened
On July 28, 2026, Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte posted on X that ODNI was “executing a 5th and near final round of terminations, an approximately 30% staff reduction from weeks ago.” He did so hours before the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as his permanent replacement, 51-47 on party lines.
Pulte did not say how many people were affected, what baseline the 30% referred to, or whether those removed were dismissed from federal service or returned to their home agencies. The announcement came two days after he said a fourth round was complete.
Pulte, who also heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, had been acting DNI since June 19, after Tulsi Gabbard resigned. In his first weeks he had removed six career and political employees, sent about 50 detailees back to their home agencies and pushed out the deputy DNI for mission integration.
Who benefited
The White House got a deeper cut to the office that coordinates the intelligence community before a Senate-confirmed director arrived. Pulte used a temporary post, which he held for about six weeks, to show loyalty and leave a mark.
Who wanted something
Trump chose a housing regulator with no intelligence background to run ODNI in the interim, and Pulte announced each round personally on social media. He framed the cuts as protecting the American people from “a bloated and corrupt elite class.” Jay Clayton inherited the result rather than deciding it.
Who lost out
ODNI analysts and support staff were dismissed or sent back without public explanation. The office’s capacity to integrate warnings across 18 agencies suffered, and the Senate confirmed a director the same day for an organization being restructured out from under him.
Why it matters
Roughly a third of the intelligence coordinating office was cut, by social-media announcement, with no stated criteria, hours before the acting director left. The cut pre-empted the confirmed director’s authority over his own agency. ODNI had already been cut substantially under Gabbard.
Sources Nextgov/FCWThe HillRoll Call