Gabbard Seeks to Consolidate Her Control of President’s Daily Brief

Politics|Gabbard Seeks to Consolidate Her Control of President’s Daily Brief

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is moving the assembly of the president’s daily intelligence brief from the C.I.A. headquarters to her own complex, according to officials briefed on the move.

The brief, a summary of intelligence and analysis about global hot spots and national security threats, is overseen and presented to the president by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But C.I.A. officers write much of the analysis in the document and produce it, pulling together articles and graphics on the agency’s classified computer systems.

Ms. Gabbard’s decision comes as President Trump has openly mused to aides over time about whether the office she leads — which was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to improve interagency coordination — should continue to exist, according to two people with knowledge of his remarks. Ms. Gabbard has discussed Mr. Trump’s concerns with him directly and has considered how to overhaul the office, according to one official.

The decision was announced internally on Tuesday. C.I.A. staff were told in a memo from the agency’s directorate of analysis that such a move had been considered several times over the years.

The memo, which was described to The New York Times, said there was “much to be worked out about transition timelines and our own processes.” The infrastructure to create the briefing is sizable and owned by the C.I.A. and could be difficult to move or replicate at Ms. Gabbard’s office.

Moving the production of the daily brief was one of two decisions Ms. Gabbard made on Tuesday. She also ordered the National Intelligence Council to relocate to her headquarters.