Tulsi Gabbard resigns effective June 30, 2026
Tulsi Gabbard is resigning as director of national intelligence, telling President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday that her last day at ODNI is expected to be June 30. Her formal letter says the resignation is effective June 30, 2026, and links the decision to her husband Abraham's recent diagnosis with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.
Gabbard wrote that she must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through the battle. In the same letter, she said she has served in the job for the last year and a half and will remain fully committed to a smooth and thorough transition over the coming weeks.
Gabbard's Oval Office notice
Gabbard notified Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday. The timing puts the transition in motion months before the effective date in her letter, giving the Office of the Director of National Intelligence a window to plan for the change in leadership rather than a same-day departure.
Her letter says, “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.” It also says, “Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026.”
Gabbard said Abraham has been “my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage — standing steadfast through my deployment to East Africa on a Joint Special Operations mission, multiple political campaigns and now my service in this role.” She added, “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.”
Abraham and the coming weeks
The resignation shifts the focus to the coming weeks, when Gabbard said she will work toward a “smooth and thorough transition” so the team experiences “no disruption in leadership or momentum.” That leaves her in place for now, but with a publicly stated end date and a reason tied to her family rather than the office itself.
She said her husband recently received the diagnosis and that he faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months. Gabbard also said she made significant progress at ODNI advancing unprecedented transparency and restoring integrity to the intelligence community.
Her letter closes with gratitude to Trump and the American people for the “profound honor” of serving as DNI. The practical next step is the handoff inside ODNI before June 30, 2026, with Gabbard still responsible for carrying out the transition she described.
