Sen. Adam Schiff tore into Tulsi Gabbard Friday after the director of national intelligence abruptly announced she was resigning from the Trump administration.
“While the circumstances around her departure are deserving of our sympathy, let’s be clear: Tulsi Gabbard’s only positive contribution to our nation’s national security is her resignation,” Schiff wrote in a statement posted on X.
The California Democrat accused Gabbard of spending her time as DNI dismantling intelligence operations and prioritizing Trump politically over national security.
“She dismantled critical agencies keeping Americans safe,” Schiff wrote. “She weaponized the IC to pursue baseless election fraud claims. And more.”
“We must ensure that her tenure — marked by a devotion to the person of the president and not to the security of the country — represents a terrible exception at DNI and not the new normal,” Schiff added.
My thoughts go out to Tulsi Gabbard and her family, as her husband battles this serious health problem. I hope and pray that he makes a speedy and full recovery.
While the circumstances around her departure are deserving of our sympathy, let’s be clear: Tulsi Gabbard’s only…
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) May 22, 2026
The explosive criticism came just hours after Gabbard publicly revealed she was stepping down from the administration because her husband had been diagnosed with what she described as “an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
Gabbard announced the resignation Friday in a lengthy post on X.
In the statement, she thanked President Donald Trump for “the opportunity to lead ODNI.”
I am deeply grateful for the trust President Trump placed in me and for the opportunity to lead @ODNIgov for the last year and a half.
Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare… pic.twitter.com/PS0Dxp5zpd
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) May 22, 2026
“I am deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half,” Gabbard wrote in her formal resignation letter.
She explained that her husband, Abraham, “recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
Gabbard added that he now faces “major challenges in the coming weeks and months.”
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“As a result, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” she wrote.
According to a Fox News report, Gabbard informed Trump during an Oval Office meeting Friday that her final day leading the Office of the Director of National Intelligence would likely be June 30.
Trump later announced on Truth Social that Aaron Lukas would serve as acting DNI after Gabbard’s departure.
Gabbard’s resignation immediately reignited debate over one of the most controversial national security tenures of Trump’s second administration.
Once viewed as an anti-war Democratic outsider, Gabbard became one of Trump’s most loyal Cabinet figures after joining the administration.
Her time leading ODNI repeatedly sparked clashes with Democrats, intelligence officials and even some Republicans.
Critics accused Gabbard of politicizing intelligence operations while aggressively pursuing Trump’s long-running grievances surrounding the Russia investigation and the 2020 election.
Supporters, meanwhile, praised her for restructuring intelligence agencies, shrinking bureaucracy and targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside the federal government.
During her tenure, Gabbard oversaw the declassification of more than half a million pages of documents tied to both the Trump-Russia investigation and the JFK assassination. Trump repeatedly praised Gabbard for those efforts.
But Gabbard also became a lightning rod inside the administration over foreign policy.
The former congresswoman spent years building a public reputation as a fierce critic of regime-change wars in the Middle East.
That history created growing tension inside the White House as Trump moved closer toward military action against Iran. The dispute exploded into public view last June.
During testimony before Congress in March 2025, Gabbard stated that Iran had not yet decided to build a nuclear weapon. Trump later publicly dismissed her assessment.
“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters when asked about Gabbard’s testimony. “I think they were very close to having it.”
Gabbard’s tenure also generated controversy over her involvement in investigations tied to the 2020 election.
She faced criticism after being spotted at the scene of an FBI raid targeting a Georgia election office in Fulton County.
Federal agents seized records tied to the 2020 election during the operation.
Gabbard later insisted she attended the raid because Trump personally requested her presence.
She also repeatedly accused Obama administration officials of manufacturing evidence surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In multiple public statements, Gabbard claimed Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi knowingly used false information to fuel Trump’s first impeachment.
Schiff has long been one of Gabbard’s fiercest critics. The California senator frequently accused her of advancing conspiracy theories and undermining confidence in American intelligence agencies.
Friday’s statement marked one of Schiff’s sharpest public rebukes of Gabbard since she joined the Trump administration.
Gabbard became the fourth Trump Cabinet member to resign within the last three months.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer also recently stepped down from the administration.
Attention quickly shifted Friday toward possible replacements. Sen. Jim Banks floated Rep. Elise Stefanik as a potential successor.
Stefanik would make a great replacement for Tulsi as DNI. Easily confirmable too. https://t.co/4u9dqysScg
— Jim Banks (@Jim_Banks) May 22, 2026
“Stefanik would make a great replacement for Tulsi as DNI,” Banks wrote on X. “Easily confirmable too.”
Stefanik has been one of Trump’s most outspoken defenders in Congress and previously was nominated to serve as ambassador to the United Nations.
The White House later withdrew that nomination because of concerns surrounding the GOP’s narrow House majority.
Stefanik currently serves in senior Republican leadership roles and sits on the House Intelligence Committee.
A big contribution to national security and fraud prevention would be the resignation of Adam Schiff.
Schiff is a piss poor excuse of a human being.
I agree Schiff can make a bigger contribution by resigning. Maybe that then the tax payer could start some class action law suites’ to get back as much of the wasted tax money as possible and at the same time bankrupt everyone of the bastards that was involved in the scheme.