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Trump Names Bill Pulte Acting Director of National Intelligence

The temporary placement has prompted bipartisan alarm over Pulte’s lack of intelligence experience, triggered reports that Trump ordered him to begin cutting ODNI staff, with the dispute contributing to a failed procedural vote on Section 702 surveillance authority.

FILE - Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte walks outside the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026
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Overview

  • President Trump tapped Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, a post he was designated to take when Tulsi Gabbard leaves on June 30 and which he first announced on June 2.
  • Trump told reporters on June 4 that Pulte will not be his permanent nominee and that the administration is interviewing other candidates for the Senate-confirmed DNI job.
  • Lawmakers from both parties have raised sharp objections to Pulte’s appointment because he has no record of national security or intelligence work and has used his FHFA role to refer alleged mortgage fraud cases involving people viewed as Trump critics.
  • Reporting from the Wall Street Journal and other outlets says Trump directed Pulte to “start the process” of cutting staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and that controversy helped prompt a failed procedural Senate vote to extend Section 702 surveillance authority.
  • As an acting official under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Pulte can serve up to 210 days without Senate confirmation, a window that could let him make personnel and structural changes before a permanent director is approved and that raises fresh oversight and intelligence-community morale concerns.