US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is moving to dismiss over 100 intelligence officers for misusing a classified NSA chatroom to discuss transgender experiences, including sharing explicit messages.
Gabbard issued a memo on Tuesday instructing all intelligence agencies to identify employees involved in the NSA chatroom, dismiss them, and revoke their security clearances by Friday, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said.
The move aligns with the Trump administration’s push to eliminate transgender and diversity initiatives across government agencies.
At the Central Intelligence Agency, this effort has led to the resignation or termination of over 50 officers involved in diversity programmes.
“The National Security Agency is aware of posts that appear to show inappropriate discussions by intelligence community personnel,” the agency said in a post on X, adding that “potential misuse of these platforms by a small group of individuals does not represent the community.”
It added that investigations into the misuse of government systems were ongoing.
Gabbard told Fox News late Tuesday that the plan to fire the employees was part of the mandate from President Donald Trump to “clean house, root out that rot and corruption and weaponization and politicization so we can start to rebuild that trust in these institutions.”
Following the crackdown, Gabbard said in the Fox interview that officials were coming forward with additional instances of misconduct.
“People are stepping forward because they’re all on board with the mission to clean house,” Tulsi Gabbard added.
Gabbard, who took over as director of national intelligence earlier in February, has repeatedly criticised the 18 intelligence agencies under her command, accusing them of using intelligence for political purposes and targeting Trump.
Her stance aligns with that of Kash Patel, a close Trump ally, who has been confirmed as the new head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
With Bloomberg inputs
