Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she would resign as U.S. Director of National Intelligence at the end of June to care for her husband after he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
In a resignation letter posted on her verified X account, Gabbard said she informed President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office that she would step down effective June 30, 2026.
Gabbard thanked Trump for the opportunity to serve in the role over the past 18 months and described the decision as difficult but necessary due to her husband’s health condition.”At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she wrote.
She said her husband, Abraham, had supported her throughout their 11-year marriage, including during her military deployment to East Africa, political campaigns and government service.”His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” Gabbard said, adding that she could not “in good conscience” leave him to face the illness alone while continuing in one of the nation’s most demanding national security positions.
Gabbard pledged to oversee a smooth transition before leaving office, saying she would work over the coming weeks to ensure there was no disruption to intelligence operations or leadership. She also expressed gratitude to Americans for what she called the “profound honor” of serving as director.
During her tenure, Gabbard led efforts to restructure parts of the U.S. Intelligence Community, including measures aimed at reducing operational costs and reorganising programmes across intelligence agencies. Her office also declassified hundreds of thousands of government records related to historical investigations, including files connected to the Trump-Russia inquiry and the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said under her leadership that the National Counterterrorism Center blocked thousands of individuals with alleged links to narco-terrorism from entering the United States in 2025 and expanded the federal terror watchlist.