Tulsi Gabbard resigns as Director of National Intelligence

(NBC, KYMA) - Tulsi Gabbard, the top-ranking U.S. intelligence official, told President Donald Trump Friday she is resigning from her role following her husband's cancer diagnosis, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.

In the letter, Gabbard told the president her husband, Abraham Williams, was diagnosed with a serious and rare form of bone cancer.

"At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle," she wrote.

Her last day will be June 30.

The former Democratic congresswoman who broke with her party to endorse Trump for president in 2024 never made it into the president's inner circle.

She clashed with her CIA counterpart, John Ratcliffe, and other administration officials.

During pivotal moments as President Trump deliberated over possible military action or watched live video feeds of operations in Iran or Venezuela, Gabbard was often not in the room, underscoring her outsider status.

But in the end, she wasn't ousted like former Attorney General Pam Bondi or former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

She is the fourth cabinet member, all women, to leave Trump's administration, including former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez de Remer, who resigned amid an investigation into misconduct.

There was speculation off and on since she was named to the position that Gabbard might be out of a job.

Her less-than-full-throated endorsement of the president's decision to go to war with Iran, unlike other cabinet officials, raised fresh questions about whether Trump would keep her, or whether she might resign in protest.