Donald Trump is moving forward with plans to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, a decision that has ignited bipartisan alarm on Capitol Hill and put at risk a compromise deal to extend a sweeping federal surveillance program expiring this week.
Trump announced the move Tuesday evening following a daytime meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Pulte will assume the intelligence post on June 19 while keeping his current position leading a federal mortgage agency. The announcement represents an end-run around Senate confirmation, which typically reviews candidates for the top intelligence job.
The president has indicated Pulte will stay in the role only temporarily, but public comments from Trump suggest he expects the political ally to launch investigations into elections Trump has claimed were rigged once in place as the nation's highest-ranking intelligence official.
Pulte has no background in national security, military service, or law enforcement. As head of the mortgage agency, he has leveraged access to financial records to accuse Trump opponents of fraud, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook. A case against James was dismissed. The referrals against Schiff and Cook generated no charges.
The appointment has triggered immediate pushback from Democrats and unease among Senate Republicans. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned the move would collapse bipartisan support for renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, due to expire Friday.
"Bill Pulte is deeply unqualified to serve as acting director of national intelligence and is deeply dangerous," Jeffries said on PBS NewsHour. "He's got no national security experience, no military experience and no law-enforcement experience."
Section 702 allows the government to target communications of foreign nationals whose messages transit U.S. servers or involve American contacts, a tool that sweeps up domestic conversations without requiring a warrant. The FBI deployed the authority in 2020 to examine whether Black Lives Matter protesters had terrorist ties, according to records declassified in 2023.
Jeffries emphasized the law itself requires intelligence leadership to possess professional national security credentials. He called on Trump to withdraw the nomination and said Democrats would block reauthorization if Pulte takes the job.
Outgoing Director Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman and military veteran who has oversight experience with military intelligence, announced her resignation for June 30. Trump has not explained why Pulte would take over before her departure date.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are pressing the White House to nominate a permanent director capable of Senate confirmation rather than relying on an acting arrangement.
Author James Rodriguez: "Pulte's lack of any security background paired with Trump's explicit desire to weaponize intelligence against opponents makes this not just unqualified, but dangerous."
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