Tulsi Gabbard will step down as United States director of national intelligence on June 30, citing her husband’s recent diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer.
Gabbard, one of the most powerful intelligence officials in the Trump administration, said she was leaving public service to support her husband, Abraham Williams, as he faces major health challenges in the coming weeks and months.
“His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” Gabbard wrote in her resignation letter. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.”
President Donald Trump praised Gabbard following her resignation, saying she had “done an incredible job” and that his administration would miss her. Trump said Aaron Lukas, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, will serve as acting director after Gabbard leaves office.
Gabbard was confirmed as director of national intelligence after Trump returned to the White House in 2025, placing her in charge of coordinating the work of the US intelligence community and advising the president on major security threats.
Her resignation comes after months of tension and uncertainty over her role in the administration’s foreign policy direction, particularly following US military action involving Iran. Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, built much of her national profile on an anti-interventionist platform.
She faced scrutiny after appearing to diverge from Trump’s public claims about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Trump later dismissed her congressional statement that Iran was not seeking to build a nuclear weapon, saying he believed Tehran was “very close” to having one.
Gabbard’s top aide, former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, also left the administration earlier over the war in Iran, urging Trump to change course. Gabbard later publicly backed the president, saying the commander-in-chief was responsible for determining imminent threats.
A former member of the Hawaii Legislature and US House of Representatives, Gabbard was first elected to public office at 21 before leaving after one term when her National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq. She later served in Congress from 2013 to 2021 and became the first Hindu member of the House.
She ran for president in 2020 as a Democrat, left the party in 2022, and became an increasingly prominent Trump ally before joining the Republican Party. She endorsed Trump in 2024, campaigned with him, and served on his transition team before being nominated to lead the intelligence community.
Her departure makes her the latest high-level official to leave Trump’s second-term Cabinet, following earlier exits from the labor, homeland security and justice departments.
Under Gabbard, the intelligence office pursued deep staffing cuts, with the former congresswoman arguing the agency had become too large and inefficient over the past two decades.
The White House has not yet announced a permanent nominee to replace her.