Top US spy Gabbard announces staff cut of over 40% from her office

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday announced the first major overhaul of her office since its creation, slashing personnel by more than 40% by October 1 and saving more than $700 million per year, Report informs via Reuters.

Among other changes, the restructuring eliminates the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which monitors foreign efforts to influence the American public. A fact sheet said that the function was already performed by other US intelligence units.

The Trump administration has sought to shrink the federal bureaucracy and has made sweeping cuts to a number of agencies.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was created after the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on the US to coordinate the work of the 18-agency US intelligence community.

"Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence," Gabbard said in a statement.

The overhaul is required so ODNI can focus "on its core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the president and policymakers," she said.

ODNI had about 1,800 employees when Gabbard took the helm, and she has already reduced staff by about 25 percent, according to the Federal News Network, which focuses on news about the federal workforce.