Director of National Intelligence(DNI) is a cabinet-level United States government intelligence and security official. The position is mandated by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as the executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All 18 IC agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), report directly to the DNI. Other federal agencies with intelligence capabilities also report to the DNI, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) .
The DNI also serves as the principal advisor to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council on all intelligence matters. The DNI, supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), produces the President's Daily Brief, a highly classified document including intelligence from all IC agencies, shared each morning with the President of the United States. The DNI, who is appointed by the President of the United States and is subject to confirmation by the United States Senate, serves at the pleasure of the President .
President George W. Bush strengthened the role of the DNI on July 30, 2008, with Executive Order 13470, which, among other things, solidified the DNI's legal authority to direct intelligence gathering and analysis, and to set policy for intelligence sharing with foreign agencies and for the hiring and firing of senior intelligence officials. The DNI was given further responsibility for the entire IC's whistleblowing and source protection by President Barack Obama via Presidential Policy Directive 19 on 10 October 2012 .
The position was elevated to a cabinet-level role during the first presidency of Donald Trump and retained this status in subsequent administrations. Currently, the DNI attends all cabinet meetings and liaises with the executive office of the President and other Cabinet secretaries in the execution of their duties. President Donald Trump nominated Tulsi Gabbard to the position in 2025, and she was subsequently confirmed by the US Senate on 12 February 2025.
On 22 May 2026, Gabbard resigned from the role as DNI to care for her husband, effective 19 June 2026.
The position of Director of National Intelligence was established by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on 17 December 2004. This legislation represented the most comprehensive reform of the nation's intelligence capabilities since World War II, creating the DNI position to replace the 'dual-hatted' Director of Central Intelligence as the independent leader of the nation's intelligence enterprise . The Act was a response to the Intelligence Community's failure to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks and inaccuracies in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
Further strengthening of the DNI's authority occurred under President Donald Trump, who nominated Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to the position in 2025. Clayton was subsequently confirmed by the US Senate and assumed office as Director of National Intelligence, bringing fresh leadership to the intelligence community during a critical period of national security challenges .