Donald Trump is installing Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence and suggests the appointee will probe what the president describes as rigged elections, continuing Trump's unfounded claims about voting integrity.
Pulte, currently director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, took the intelligence role this week following Tulsi Gabbard's departure. Trump told reporters Thursday that Pulte will serve only temporarily, saying he lacks appetite for a permanent position.
"He's a very smart guy," Trump said of Pulte, "and you may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc, etc."
Trump praised Pulte's "energy" and "high integrity," characterizing the appointment as effective on a short-term basis. The president offered no timeline for how long Pulte would remain in the role.
Pulte brings no background in national intelligence work. His previous government experience centers on housing finance. He remains a loyal Trump ally who has eagerly executed the president's directives.
The appointment has drawn sharp bipartisan pushback. Senate Republican leader John Thune warned that Pulte would face a "lengthy road ahead" if nominated permanently, emphasizing that the position requires professionals with substantive national security credentials. "We don't need a weaponized national intelligence director," Thune said.
Mitch McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader, delivered a more pointed rebuke, saying any intelligence chief "must have the extensive national security experience required by statute." McConnell signaled he would reject any nominee failing that test.
Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, accused Trump of bypassing qualified professionals in favor of someone willing to weaponize government power for political ends. "Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution," Warner said.
Pulte gained notoriety last year when he referred Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former congressman Eric Swalwell, and Senator Adam Schiff to authorities on mortgage fraud allegations. Critics dismissed those claims as weak and politically motivated.
The intelligence role carries statutory authority over the nation's spy agencies and sits at the apex of the classified briefing chain. The position typically demands deep experience in espionage, counterintelligence, and foreign threats.
Trump's pitch for Pulte centered on election probes, a priority for the president who has spent months alleging without evidence that the 2024 election involved Democratic cheating in California. Earlier Thursday, Trump posted unsubstantiated claims about the state's primaries and said the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office was investigating. That office declined to comment.
Author James Rodriguez: "Putting a housing finance bureaucrat with zero intelligence experience at the helm of America's spy agencies to hunt for election ghosts is either a brilliant disruption move or institutional sabotage, and history will decide which."
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