President Donald Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, a housing official with no background in intelligence or national security, as acting director of national intelligence.
“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.
Pulte is director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he’s been part of efforts to target Trump’s foes. He’s used federal housing records to leverage mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook and Sen. Adam Schiff.
Pulte is also chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trump said he will hold all three roles for the time being.
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To occupy the position permanently, Pulte would have to go through a difficult Senate confirmation process.
“We don’t need a weaponized DNI,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters. “We need professionals there. Again — I just heard about it, I’m trying to get more information about their current state of thinking about that position. If he’s someone who wants that position permanently, he’s got, as you all know, a lengthy road ahead of him.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who recently lost a primary runoff to Ken Paxton, said he “doesn’t see any evidence of qualification” for Pulte to have the job.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the 18 agencies that make up the intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. The DNI is the chief intelligence adviser to the president.
The previous DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned from the role at the end of May after months of speculation that her exit was imminent. Trump had previously announced that Aaron Lukas, Gabbard’s principal deputy director of national intelligence, would fill the acting position upon her exit.
Multiple Democrats expressed opposition to Pulte’s appointment, including Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience’ required by statute for the job, which was created after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11,” he said on X. “It is that he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.”
Other Democrats who have been the subject of politically motivated attacks from the Trump administration were quick to slam Pulte’s selection.
“At a time when the U.S. is at war and the threats to national security loom large, we need a Director of National Intelligence who is knowledgeable, experienced, and respected. Bill Pulte is none of these things,” Schiff wrote on X. “He politicized and weaponized the housing agencies and will do the same in the intelligence community. And Americans will be less safe as a result.”
Sen. Mark Kelly said he didn’t understand why Pulte was selected for the job.
“If you’re good at drywall, you must be good at national intelligence,” Kelly said. “I don’t get it. This is an important job. This is about the safety of all Americans here. It’s very complicated managing all these intelligence agencies. As far as I know, he doesn’t have a background in this. I would have hoped the president could have gone out and found somebody who’s qualified — and nothing against Pulte as an individual. He’s a successful business guy, right? He is. I’m sure he’s a smart person, but this is not his thing.”
This article has been updated with additional comments.
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