Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as US Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard says she will step down from her US director of national intelligence role in Donald Trump's administration.

In a letter posted on social media, Ms Gabbard said she was resigning to support her husband ⁠Abraham Williams after his recent bone cancer diagnosis.

"I cannot in good conscience ask ‌him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding ​and time-consuming post," she said.

Her resignation takes effect on June 30.

US President Donald Trump praised Ms Gabbard on social media for doing "a great job" in the role and said Principal Deputy Director Aaron Lukas would serve as acting director.

Ms Gabbard is the fourth cabinet member to depart during Mr Trump's second term.

Suggestions White House 'unhappy'

Mr Trump has hinted in the past at differences with Ms Gabbard on their approach to Iran, saying in March that ​she ‌was "softer" than him on curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

In April, several sources told Reuters that Ms Gabbard could lose her role in a broader cabinet shake-up.

A senior White House official said then that Mr Trump had expressed displeasure with Ms Gabbard in recent months.

Another source with direct knowledge of the matter ⁠said the president had asked allies for their thoughts on potential replacements for his intelligence ‌chief.

Signs of the White House's displeasure ‌have included Ms Gabbard's absence from deliberations between Mr Trump and his top national security advisers on the US military operation that deposed former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the Iran war ‌and Cuba.

"She was pushed out by the White House," a source familiar with Ms Gabbard's departure told Reuters.

The person said among other reasons for the displeasure with Ms Gabbard were the activities of her ‌task force, known as ​the Director's Initiatives Group.

Among other activities, ⁠it has worked to declassify documents related to the death of former President John F. Kennedy, investigate the security of election machines, and probe the origins of COVID-19.

Another source of friction, the person said, was Ms Gabbard's revocation last August of the security clearances of 37 current and former US officials that exposed the name of an intelligence officer serving undercover overseas.

Ms Gabbard led several initiatives aimed at rooting out politicisation from ⁠the intelligence community and approved the stripping of security clearances from former intelligence officials, including former CIA director John Brennan.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters after a ‌Friday event in Manassas, Virginia, that Ms Gabbard's ‌job itself had become too politicised.

"This position now more than ever needs to be an independent, experienced intelligence professional," ​Mr Warner said.

He said the next leader should understand that the "director of national intelligence should be focusing on foreign intelligence and not involving himself or herself in domestic election incidents".