Transgender CIA Officer’s Service Cut Short Under Trump’s Return

Julia Curlee joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 2007 and, after transitioning openly in 2013, became the agency’s first openly transgender officer to remain on active duty. Over nearly two decades she worked in war zones, traveled to 35 countries, and briefed senior officials, including delivering the President’s Daily Brief to the Trump administration and later serving as Vice President Mike Pence’s daily intelligence briefer. Her expertise earned her a role on the National Security Council (NSC) under President Joe Biden, where she directed a portfolio for almost two years.

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When Trump reclaimed the presidency in January 2025, he signed an executive order directing the federal government to recognize only two sexes. Curlee continued her NSC duties, but three days into the administration roughly 160 NSC employees were ordered to leave the White House. Curlee was initially spared, yet after 69 days the remaining staff, including her, were abruptly dismissed. She later learned that far-right activist Laura Loomer had publicly called for the removal of a “transgender Biden holdover” from the White House, though Curlee was not given an explicit reason for her termination.

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Following her White House exit, Curlee returned to the CIA. She observed the agency dismantle its LGBTQ+ employee organization, remove Pride flags, and impose the administration’s restrictions on transgender workers. In an interview with Radio Atlantic, she expressed that she could no longer in good conscience advise any LGBT American to pursue a CIA career.

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Curlee’s account highlights how an intelligence official’s gender identity, once accepted privately, became a liability once it risked public exposure. The sequence—from the executive order to the rapid NSC purge and the CIA’s internal policy shifts—illustrates the vulnerability of LGBTQ+ federal employees to politicized personnel actions. It also underscores the potential chilling effect on recruitment and retention of diverse talent within national security agencies.

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The episode raises questions about the balance between personal privacy and public perception in high-security roles, and it signals how executive policy can directly reshape workplace environments for marginalized groups. As Curlee’s experience shows, changes in administration can swiftly alter the professional landscape for LGBTQ+ officials, affecting both individual careers and the broader composition of the nation’s intelligence community.

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