Julia Curlee spent close to two decades inside the CIA, rising to become the officer who handed Vice President Mike Pence his morning intelligence briefing. In August 2026, she went public with her own name attached to a story she’d only ever told in disguise: how she became the first CIA officer to transition openly and keep working, and how that same identity got her fired from the White House years later. Here is what’s actually known about her, based on her own published account and verified news reporting.
Background
People are searching for Julia Curlee right now because of a personal essay she published in The Atlantic on August 17, 2026, describing her firing from the National Security Council earlier in the second Trump administration. The essay confirmed something many national security reporters already suspected: that Curlee, long known in intelligence circles simply as a skilled career analyst, was the same person who had written a widely shared 2017 Atlantic essay under the pen name “Jenny Hall.”
Before this, Curlee was known mainly within policy circles, appearing as a contributor and podcast guest for the national security outlet Lawfare, where she now holds a fellowship. Her decision to speak under her real name turned a quiet, specialist reputation into a much bigger news story almost overnight, because it connects three subjects that draw huge public interest at once: intelligence work, White House politics, and the lived experience of a transgender government employee under two different Trump administrations.
Latest Update
Curlee’s Atlantic essay, published four days before this writing, is still the center of the news cycle around her. In it, she says she learned she’d lost her job on the National Security Council in late March 2025, the same day a far-right commentator, Laura Loomer, publicly called for her removal. Curlee says no one at the White House ever gave her an official reason for the firing.
Since the essay ran, Curlee has done a wave of follow-up interviews, including a televised conversation with CNN’s Dana Bash and an appearance on the Lawfare Daily podcast. In these interviews she has repeated a consistent core claim: that Trump administration officials knew she was transgender from the start of her service and only acted after her identity became widely public. She has not offered documented proof that any single person ordered her removal because she is trans, and no White House official has issued an on-record statement confirming or denying her account as of this writing. That gap between her account and any official response is the one piece of this story that remains genuinely open.
What is not confirmed: Curlee’s exact reason for dismissal has never been officially stated by the White House or the CIA. Any claim that names a single decision-maker behind her firing should be treated as her personal account and administration critics’ interpretation, not as a proven fact.
Full Profile
| Full Name | Julia Curlee |
| Known For | Former CIA officer, National Security Council director, President’s Daily Brief briefer |
| Years Active | 2007 to 2025 (government service); 2026 to present (public writing and commentary) |
| Current Role | Public Service Fellow, Lawfare |
Family and Early Life
Curlee has said publicly that she was raised in Hawaii and that a piece of advice from her grandfather stuck with her throughout her career: that her family came to the country with nothing and owed it everything. She has described wanting to become an intelligence officer since childhood. Details about her siblings, extended family, or the specific town she grew up in have not been reported anywhere and are not included here.
Career Path
Curlee’s career runs through four presidential administrations and several of the most closely watched jobs in American intelligence. The table below lays out the timeline as reported by Lawfare, The Atlantic, CNN, and other outlets.
| Year / Period | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Joined the CIA as an intelligence officer |
| 2013 | Transitioned while employed at the agency, becoming the first CIA officer to do so openly and continue serving |
| 2017 | Published a pseudonymous essay in The Atlantic under the name “Jenny Hall” about being an openly trans intelligence officer |
| Trump’s first term (2017-2021) | Served more than a year as Vice President Mike Pence’s daily intelligence briefer; also worked in CIA’s China Mission Center and completed tours in the Middle East and South Asia |
| Biden administration (2021-2025) | Served as a director on the National Security Council |
| Jan-March 2025 | Continued as a senior CIA official delivering morning intelligence briefings during the start of Trump’s second term |
| Late March 2025 | Dismissed from her National Security Council position, 68 days into the new administration |
| August 2026 | Published a first-person essay in The Atlantic under her real name; gave interviews to CNN and Lawfare Daily |
Age
Religion
Spouse/Partner
In her own Atlantic essay, Curlee described herself in a letter she wrote to Mike Pence as “a transgender CIA officer, a wife and mother.” That is the extent of what she has confirmed about her family life in her own words. She has not publicly named a spouse or child, and no outlet has independently reported those names, so this article does not include them.
Net Worth
Parents
Height
Education
According to her official Lawfare contributor biography, Curlee holds master’s degrees from the National War College and American University. Specific undergraduate education has not been detailed in available reporting.
Hometown/State of Origin
Curlee has said she was raised in Hawaii, though a precise birth city has not been published in any source reviewed for this article.
Official Social Media / Contact
Curlee maintains a professional presence on LinkedIn, where she posts commentary on intelligence and national security topics, and she is listed as a contributor on the Lawfare website. Her original essays are published under her byline at The Atlantic.
Reader Questions (FAQ)
Who is Julia Curlee?
Julia Curlee is a former CIA officer who spent roughly 18 years at the agency, later serving as Vice President Mike Pence’s daily intelligence briefer and as a National Security Council director. She is also known as the first CIA officer to transition openly while continuing to serve.
Why was Julia Curlee fired from the White House?
Curlee says she was removed from her National Security Council role in late March 2025, the same day a far-right commentator publicly called for her firing because she is transgender. Neither the White House nor the CIA has issued an official public reason for her dismissal, so the exact cause remains her account rather than a confirmed administrative record.
Is Julia Curlee transgender?
Yes. Curlee transitioned in 2013 while working at the CIA and has written and spoken publicly about her experience, first under a pseudonym in 2017 and later under her own name in 2026.
Did Julia Curlee brief Mike Pence?
Yes. Curlee served as Vice President Pence’s daily intelligence briefer for more than a year during Trump’s first term, a role that required her to review overnight intelligence and be ready before dawn each day.
What does Julia Curlee do now?
As of August 2026, Curlee holds a Public Service Fellowship at Lawfare, where she writes and appears on podcasts about national security and intelligence policy.
How old is Julia Curlee?
Her exact age has not been publicly confirmed. What is known is that she joined the CIA in 2007 and has described roughly 25 years of national security experience in total.
Is Julia Curlee married?
She has referred to herself as “a wife and mother” in her own published essay, but she has not publicly named a spouse or child, so those specific details are not available.
Wrap-Up
Julia Curlee’s story stands out because it sits at the intersection of two things people rarely get an inside look at together: how the U.S. government’s intelligence machinery actually runs day to day, and what it is like to be openly transgender inside one of its most guarded institutions. Her account, told first anonymously and then under her own name nearly a decade later, gives a rare, detailed record of how a policy shift at the top of government can reach all the way down into the working life of one career public servant.
It is worth being clear about where the confirmed facts end and the open questions begin. Curlee’s employment history, her role briefing Pence, and the basic timeline of her firing are backed by her own on-the-record essay and matched by independent reporting from CNN, The Atlantic, and other outlets. What is not confirmed is any official, on-the-record reason from the White House or CIA for her dismissal — that part of the story currently rests on her interpretation of events, not a documented decision.
As more outlets follow up on her essay and interviews, this page will likely need updates. For now, the most reliable way to follow her story is directly through her own writing at The Atlantic and her ongoing commentary at Lawfare, both linked above.
Smith Andrew is the Founder and Editor of BiographyCabal. He researches, writes, and edits accurate, engaging, and well-researched biographies of celebrities, entrepreneurs, athletes, influencers, politicians, and other notable public figures. Committed to factual reporting and quality storytelling, Smith ensures every article is reader-focused, informative, and based on reliable sources, helping readers discover the lives, careers, and achievements of influential people around the world.