Published : 04 Nov 2026, 12:40 AM
Updated : 04 Nov 2026, 12:40 AM
US intelligence sharing on Iran and other global threats with Congress and across the federal government has slowed and, in some cases, temporarily stopped during President Donald Trump's second term, according to eight current and former officials and people briefed on the matter.
Former officials and outside experts said the disruptions risk leaving policymakers with an incomplete picture of threats facing the country, echoing intelligence failures exposed after the Sept 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks. The slowdown comes as the administration weighs whether to resume strikes on Iran after the midterm elections on Tuesday.
The problems emerged during Tulsi Gabbard's tenure as director of national intelligence, amid deep tensions between her office and the CIA. While those tensions have subsided since her resignation in June, problems stemming from the clash persist, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.
The CIA last year stopped co-authoring assessments with the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an analytical group within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), reducing the number of reports that consolidate the intelligence community's views for decision-makers on issues including Iran. One US intelligence official said the CIA had begun co-authoring some assessments again in recent months.
Lawmakers and their staff also briefly stopped receiving intelligence reports from Gabbard's office after the US military intervention in Iran in June 2025 and the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, according to two people familiar with the matter. Gabbard's team had accused lawmakers of leaking information to the press.
The disruption in intelligence sharing has not been previously reported.
CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons said the agency “participates fully” in providing intelligence assessments through the Presidential Daily Brief, led by ODNI, and the NIC.
Former officials are now working on a bipartisan basis at Stanford University's Hoover Institution to draw up plans to rebuild the intelligence community under the next administration, four former US officials said.
“All of these things are adding up in a really complex world where policymakers need to have a more sophisticated, nuanced, and integrated view of the world, and they are getting less,” said Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of national intelligence during Trump's first term.
Turf Wars and Reduced Cooperation
The problems began last year amid significant cuts to national security agencies, including the ODNI and CIA, as Trump moved to remove or sideline officials he viewed as disloyal.
Some analysts at intelligence agencies are now careful not to write assessments that conflict with the White House's views for fear of political retaliation, two former officials and a current US official said.
“Analysts still do the work, but this White House has made them irrelevant because the president treats unwelcome information as disloyalty,” said Julia Curlee, a former CIA analyst who said she was fired from the Trump National Security Council last year for being transgender.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The situation was worsened by what officials described as one of the biggest turf wars in three decades between the CIA and ODNI, which was formed after the Sept 11 attacks.
The dispute, triggered when Gabbard's office revoked the security clearances of current and former intelligence officials a year ago, escalated to the point that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had to intervene several times, three former officials said.
The National Intelligence Council lost its main author when the CIA stopped contributing to its assessments. The reports are intended to consolidate the views of the nation's 18 intelligence agencies, with the council relying heavily on the CIA for analysis of issues such as Iran and Russia.
The CIA continued sharing intelligence with the NIC and working on some reports, but its analysts focused on their own assessments.
The council, which was also hit by staff cuts, has since slowed production, two people familiar with the matter said. None of its assessments have focused on the conflict in Iran, five current and former officials said.
An ODNI official said the group had maintained assessment levels close to “historic trendlines”.
“While Tulsi did not utilise the NIC, DNI Clayton has proven to be a good steward of the IC and recognises the value of the NIC,” a US official said, referring to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton.
New Barriers
Some former intelligence officials worry that new barriers are emerging between agencies.
“The problem is that by taking actions which have the effect of hollowing out institutions where there's actual intelligence community coordination on things, you're creating little lily pads, and then everybody can pick their own lily pad to listen to,” said Morgan Muir, a former deputy director of national intelligence in the Biden administration.
Gabbard's office also stopped briefing Congress on election threats in 2025, according to two people familiar with the matter and a former US official.
Clayton, who became director of national intelligence in August, has resumed congressional briefings on election threats, officials said.
“Director Clayton remains committed to ensuring that ODNI and the intelligence community have the resources they need to continue informing key US government decision-makers and keeping Americans safe,” ODNI said in a statement to Reuters.
In another clash between agencies, the FBI late last year stopped sharing some intelligence with the National Counterterrorism Center for several weeks after the centre's then-head, Joe Kent, and his staff tried to investigate the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, two former officials said.
FBI leaders told Kent they believed the centre was overstepping its authority.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
