Trump Taps Housing Chief Bill Pulte as Acting Intelligence Director, Replacing Tulsi Gabbard

President Donald Trump on Monday named Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director of national intelligence, an unusual choice that hands oversight of the nation's 18 intelligence agencies to a financial regulator with no background in espionage.

Pulte will replace Tulsi Gabbard, who recently announced she would resign as director of national intelligence effective June 30. In a twist that raised immediate eyebrows in Washington, Pulte is expected to keep his current portfolio: he will remain director of the FHFA and chairman of the boards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage giants that underpin much of the U.S. housing market.

The appointment is among the more contentious personnel moves of Trump's second term. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Pulte "a partisan thug with no experience in intelligence," pointing to his record at the housing agency. Over the past year, Pulte has sent a string of criminal referrals to the Justice Department alleging mortgage fraud by prominent Trump adversaries, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff of California, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Critics say that record makes him a political enforcer rather than a neutral steward of the country's secrets.

Legal analysts also noted a statutory hurdle. When Congress created the office of the director of national intelligence after the Sept. 11 attacks, it stipulated that "any individual nominated for appointment as Director of National Intelligence shall have extensive national security expertise." Pulte, a businessman and the grandson of the founder of homebuilder PulteGroup, has none of the traditional credentials — no service in the intelligence community, the military or a national security agency.

Gabbard's resignation closes a turbulent chapter atop the intelligence community. A former Democratic congresswoman who broke with her party and became one of Trump's most prominent converts, she had clashed repeatedly with career officials and lawmakers over assessments and personnel during her tenure. Her exit, set for June 30, gave the president an opening to install a loyalist while the search for a permanent successor plays out.

The White House defended the choice, citing Pulte's management experience and his loyalty to the president's agenda, and Trump praised him in announcing the appointment. Because Pulte is being installed in an "acting" capacity, the administration can sidestep, at least temporarily, a Senate confirmation fight that would force lawmakers to weigh the expertise requirement directly. Senators in both parties have signaled they will press for answers about how a mortgage regulator juggling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can simultaneously oversee the daily flow of the nation's most sensitive secrets.

The arrangement leaves open the question of how long Pulte will serve, and whether Trump will eventually nominate him — or someone else — for the permanent post. For now, the dual role places one of the president's most aggressive allies at the head of an intelligence apparatus that touches everything from counterterrorism to the war in the Middle East, an assignment certain to keep the appointment under a harsh political spotlight.