Tulsi Gabbard has announced she is resigning from President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, stepping down from her role as Director of National Intelligence after her husband, Abraham Williams, was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.
Gabbard informed President Trump of her decision during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday. According to her resignation letter, her final day leading the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will be June 30.
In the letter, Gabbard thanked Trump for the opportunity to serve, calling it a “profound honor” to lead the nation’s intelligence community over the last year and a half.
“Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026,” she wrote. “My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
She explained that Abraham now faces major medical challenges in the months ahead and said she felt compelled to step away from public service to support him during his treatment.
Gabbard described her husband as her strongest source of support throughout their 11 years of marriage. She noted that he stood by her through military deployments, several political campaigns, and her time serving in one of the nation’s most demanding intelligence roles.
“His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” she wrote. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.”
Although she is stepping down, Gabbard said she is committed to ensuring a smooth transition and promised to work closely with the administration in the coming weeks to avoid disruption inside the intelligence community.
Her resignation comes after what many viewed as a highly active and transformative tenure as DNI. During her time in office, Gabbard launched major transparency initiatives, cut agency costs by more than $700 million annually, and eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the intelligence community.
She also oversaw the declassification of more than 500,000 pages of government records, including files connected to the Trump-Russia investigation and long-classified records tied to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
Gabbard also established a first-of-its-kind Weaponization Working Group designed to investigate claims of political misuse of federal agencies.
On the national security front, her office reported stopping more than 10,000 individuals with alleged narco-terrorism ties from entering the United States in 2025 and added more than 85,000 people to the federal terror watchlist.
After posting her resignation letter publicly on X, Gabbard again thanked the American people for the opportunity to serve.
“It has been a profound honor to serve the American people as DNI,” she wrote.
The White House has not yet announced who will replace her.