Tulsi Gabbard is resigning from her position as Director of National Intelligence, citing her husband’s recent bone cancer diagnosis. In a resignation letter obtained by Fox News (the network that helped turn the former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman into a conservative frontrunner) Gabbard wrote that she was “deeply grateful for the trust you have placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.”
“Unfortunately, I must tender my resignation effective June 30, 2026,” Gabbard wrote. “My husband, Abraham, was recently diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer” and “I must step away from public service to be at his side and fully support him in this battle.”
“Abraham’s strength and love have sustained me through every challenge. I cannot, in good conscience, ask him to face this fight alone while I remain in this demanding and time-consuming position,” he added.
In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump wrote that “unfortunately, having done a great job, Tulsi Gabbard will be leaving the Administration” and that she “rightly” should take time to care for her husband. “I have no doubt that she will soon be better than ever. Tulsi has done an incredible job and she will be missed.”
Trump announced that Aaron Lukas, the current principal deputy director of National Intelligence, will take over as acting director of National Intelligence.
Gabbard’s tenure as head of the US intelligence apparatus was already on shaky ground. Gabbard, a self-described peace hawk, had taken a back seat in the Cabinet as Trump’s foreign policy escalated into interventionism in the Americas and open war against Iran.
While Gabbard may have swallowed her discomfort with Trump’s war of choice, her time in the administration will be marked by her unwavering commitment to enabling the president’s vendetta against his own intelligence agencies and the use of her office to further the conspiracies espoused by the president. Gabbardo intelligence agents fired who debunked Trump’s claims that the Maduro regime was controlling the Venezuela-connected organized crime group’s operations in the United States, participated in an FBI raid on election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, and supported Trump’s call to have ex-Obama officials processed on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Gabbard is the fourth Trump Cabinet official to leave office in recent months, joining former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
