Washington, May 23, 2026 (Agencies) — Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation as US Director of National Intelligence on Friday, citing her husband Abraham’s recent diagnosis with bone cancer as the reason for stepping down from one of the most powerful positions in the American intelligence community.
“His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” Gabbard wrote in her resignation letter. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.”
US President Donald Trump praised her service in a social media post, saying Gabbard had “done an incredible job, and we will miss her,” adding that she “rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together.” Her resignation is effective June 30. Aaron Lukas, the principal deputy director, will step in as acting director in the interim.
Gabbard becomes the fourth member of Trump’s cabinet to leave his second administration, following Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer in April, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who both departed earlier this year.
A loyal Trump supporter during his 2024 presidential campaign, Gabbard was confirmed as director of national intelligence weeks after Trump returned to the White House in 2025. In the role, she coordinated among multiple intelligence agencies and served as a key adviser to the president. Under her leadership, the intelligence community shrank significantly — she announced plans to cut staff by almost 50 percent last year, describing the agency as having become “bloated and inefficient” over the past two decades.
Despite her prominence in the administration, Gabbard had largely remained out of public view this year even as the US took military action against Iran, put pressure on Cuba, and removed Venezuela’s president. Her tenure was marked by tensions over foreign policy, particularly after US-Israel strikes on Iran. Having long positioned herself as an anti-interventionist, she avoided endorsing the decision during a congressional hearing in March and carefully evaded questions about the conflict’s potential fallout.
She also faced scrutiny over perceived discrepancies between White House and intelligence community claims regarding Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities. Last year, Trump openly dismissed her declaration before Congress that Iran was not seeking to build a nuclear weapon. “I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters at the time. “I think they were very close to having a weapon.”
Her departure follows that of her top aide, former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, who left the administration two months ago over the war in Iran, urging the president to “reverse course.”
Gabbard’s political career has been marked by several firsts. First elected to the Hawaii Legislature at the age of 21 in 2002 — the youngest person ever elected in the state — she went on to represent Hawaii in Congress as a Democrat from 2013 to 2021, becoming the first Hindu to serve in the House of Representatives. She ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2020 on an anti-interventionist platform before leaving the Democratic Party in 2022, describing it as an “elitist cabal of warmongers.” She later joined the Republican Party, became a Fox News contributor, endorsed Trump in 2024, and served on his transition team before being nominated as intelligence chief.