Breaking News: Tulsi Gabbard Resigns As Intelligence Chief, Defends Her Record

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – Amidst rumors in some quarters of being pushed out by the White House, Tulsi Gabbard announced on May 22 that she is resigning as Director of National Intelligence, citing her husband’s diagnosis with what she described as “an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”

Gabbard informed President Donald Trump of her decision during a meeting in the Oval Office earlier, according to reports first published by Fox News Digital. Her resignation will take effect June 30.

In a formal resignation letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Gabbard thanked Trump for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence over the past year and a half.

Gabbard said her husband faces “major challenges in the coming weeks and months” and that she needed to leave public office to support him during treatment. “At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she wrote.

The former Hawaii congresswoman described her husband as “my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage,” noting that he stood by her during her military deployment to East Africa, multiple political campaigns and her tenure as the nation’s top intelligence official.

She also defended her record at the ODNI, saying she had made “significant progress” in advancing transparency and restoring integrity within the intelligence community, while acknowledging that “important work” remained unfinished.

Her resignation marks another high-profile departure of a woman from Trump’s Cabinet during his second term. In recent months, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer have also exited the administration.

Gabbard’s tenure as intelligence chief included several moments of tension with the White House and Congress. Earlier this year, she told lawmakers that Iran had made “no efforts” to rebuild its nuclear program following U.S. strikes in 2025, comments that appeared to undercut the administration’s justification for military action. She also declined to say that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States at the time of the attacks.

Gabbard who served in uniform has openly decried wars and Trump’s promise of not engaging in any is said to have drawn her away from the Democratic Party to the GOP.