Tulsi Gabbard resigned as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence on Friday, saying she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer. In her resignation letter, which she posted on social media, Gabbard said she told Trump she would leave office on June 30. She revealed that her husband had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and “faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”

“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 letter was earlier reported by Fox News. Trump, in his own social media post announcing her resignation, said: “Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.” He named her principal deputy, Aaron Lukas, as acting director of national intelligence. Lukas served as an intelligence aide to acting DNI Ric Grenell in 2020 and later as deputy senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council.

Career and Political Evolution

Gabbard, 44, was born in American Samoa and raised in Hawaii. She spent a year of her childhood in the Philippines. She was first elected at age 21 to Hawaii’s House of Representatives but had to leave after one term when her National Guard unit deployed to Iraq. As the first Hindu member of the House, she was sworn in with her hand on the Bhagavad Gita. She was also the first American Samoan elected to Congress.

During four terms in the House, she became known for speaking out against Democratic leadership. Her early support for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential primary run made her a popular figure in progressive politics. In 2020, she ran for president on a progressive platform emphasizing opposition to U.S. involvement in foreign military conflicts. Citing her military experience, she argued that U.S. wars in West Asia had destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe, and cost thousands of American lives. She later dropped out and endorsed the eventual winner, Joe Biden.

Two years later, Gabbard left the Democratic Party to become an independent, saying her old party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. She campaigned for several high-profile Republicans and became a contributor to Fox News. She eventually endorsed Trump, who also criticized past U.S. wars in West Asia and campaigned on a pledge to avoid unnecessary wars and nation-building overseas.

Tenure as Director of National Intelligence

Despite lacking intelligence experience, Gabbard was a surprising choice to head the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. She vowed to eliminate what she called the politicization of intelligence by government insiders. However, she quickly used her office to support some of Trump’s most partisan arguments—that he won the 2020 election. She also worked to undermine the results of earlier investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia.

In her year on the job, Gabbard oversaw a sharp reduction in the intelligence workforce, as well as the creation of a new task force charged with considering big changes to the intelligence service. Earlier in 2026, an intelligence sector whistleblower filed a complaint that Gabbard was withholding intelligence for political reasons, prompting calls from Democrats for her resignation.

Gabbard also took a lead role in Trump’s effort to relitigate his 2020 election loss to Biden. She appeared at an FBI search of election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, even though her office was created to focus on foreign espionage, not state elections. This move drew sharp criticism from national security experts who said it blurred the lines between intelligence and politics.

Clashes Over Iran

Friction with Trump started soon after his second term began. Shortly after confirming Gabbard as DNI, she testified before lawmakers that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. After Trump launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, he said Gabbard was wrong and that he didn’t care what she said. She later appeared to get back in his good graces, but tensions resurfaced when the U.S. joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran on February 28, 2026.

During a congressional hearing in March, Gabbard’s measured comments were notable for their careful non-endorsement of Trump’s decision to strike Iran. She repeatedly dodged questions about whether the White House had been warned of potential fallout, including Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In written remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee, she said there had been no effort by Iran to rebuild its nuclear capability after U.S. attacks “obliterated” its program. That statement contradicted Trump, who had repeatedly asserted that the war was necessary to head off an imminent threat.

Gabbard said: “It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat.” Her evasive answers created several awkward exchanges with lawmakers, who pressed her for her opinion as the nation’s top intelligence official. She repeatedly said it was Trump’s decision, not hers.

Wave of Cabinet Departures

Gabbard is the fourth Cabinet official to depart during Trump’s second term. The first was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whom Trump ousted in late March amid mounting criticism over her leadership, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response. The second was Attorney General Pam Bondi, who resigned in response to growing frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April after being the target of various misconduct investigations.

Additionally, Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in March, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the war in Iran. Kent had been a close ally of Gabbard, and his departure signaled growing discord within the administration over foreign policy.

Legacy and Impact

Gabbard’s tenure as DNI will be remembered for her efforts to reshape the intelligence community amid accusations of political bias. She argued that career intelligence officials had previously weaponized their positions against Trump, and she sought to root out what she called “deep state” elements. However, critics say she undermined the apolitical nature of intelligence work and eroded trust in the agencies she was supposed to oversee.

Her resignation now leaves a leadership vacuum at a critical time, as the U.S. continues to navigate tensions with Iran and other geopolitical challenges. Acting DNI Aaron Lukas, a former Cato Institute analyst and NSC official, inherits a divided agency and a workforce that has seen significant cuts. It remains to be seen whether the next permanent director will continue Gabbard’s policies or steer the ODNI back toward a more traditional, less partisan approach.

Source:The Hindu News