Trump Installs Loyalist Bill Pulte as Acting Spy Chief, Igniting Senate Revolt

President Donald Trump has handed control of the nation's sprawling intelligence apparatus to one of his most aggressive loyalists, naming Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence — a decision that has triggered a bipartisan backlash and left a cornerstone surveillance law in limbo.

Pulte, a construction-fortune heir and private-equity executive with no background in intelligence or the military, is slated to take over the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from Tulsi Gabbard, who is stepping aside at the end of June. Trump announced the move on Truth Social, declaring that Pulte "has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America," without elaborating on why the mortgage regulator was qualified to oversee the 18 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community.

Lawmakers in both parties reacted with alarm. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Pulte was not only unqualified but had been chosen "precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need." Sen. Angus King, the Maine independent, was blunter still: "By any objective assessment, this appointment makes no sense." Critics point to Pulte's record at the FHFA, where he used his perch to issue criminal referrals against an array of Trump's political adversaries, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and former Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Rather than pull back, Trump escalated. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the president directed Pulte to begin dismantling the ODNI itself, reverting much of its staff to their home agencies. Trump called the office "unnecessary and/or too big," compared the effort to Education Secretary Linda McMahon's downsizing of the Department of Education, and suggested the spy office could be made "much smaller" or "maybe even be terminated." Administration officials say the personnel cuts could save roughly $700 million.

The fight has spilled directly onto the Senate floor. With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority, they need at least seven Democrats to extend foreign-surveillance authorities — and Democrats have refused to budge while Pulte holds the job. "There are no votes for this bill while Pulte is still in the job," said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. Trump has since floated U.S. attorney Jay Clayton as his permanent nominee, but the standoff has hardened, leaving the intelligence community facing a leadership vacuum and a self-inflicted gap in its surveillance powers at a moment officials describe as unusually dangerous.