Overview
- Multiple outlets report that firings and reassignments at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence began on Monday, with sources saying staff were told to identify roughly 300 to 400 National Counterterrorism Center employees for potential removal.
- Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Mark Warner sent a June 22 letter instructing Pulte to preserve records and refrain from large workforce reductions or partisan declassification decisions that they say are better left to a Senate-confirmed director.
- President Trump placed Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director with no prior intelligence experience, into the acting DNI role after canceling the planned Senate hearing for nominee Jay Clayton, extending Pulte’s authority under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
- Democratic resistance to Pulte’s elevation contributed to the failure to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which has now lapsed and is creating legal and operational uncertainty for overseas intelligence collection.
- Pulte’s prior use of mortgage data is under review by the Government Accountability Office, and lawmakers and former officials say rapid cuts at ODNI risk eroding institutional expertise that coordinates U.S. intelligence and protects the public.