Trump Names Mortgage Chief Bill Pulte Acting Intelligence Director, Drawing Alarm Over Experience

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has named Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting director of national intelligence, an appointment that drew immediate alarm from lawmakers who questioned the qualifications of a housing official with effectively no experience in the intelligence field.

Pulte will replace Tulsi Gabbard, who is stepping aside at the end of June after a turbulent tenure atop the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Notably, Pulte will not relinquish his existing portfolio: he is set to remain director of the FHFA and chairman of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while simultaneously overseeing the sprawling U.S. intelligence community, which coordinates work across agencies including the CIA and the National Security Agency.

The choice is unusual by any measure. The director of national intelligence is the president's principal adviser on intelligence matters and is responsible for synthesizing the assessments of more than a dozen agencies. Pulte arrives with no demonstrated background in espionage, analysis or national security policy, and critics argued his appointment risked further politicizing an institution meant to deliver dispassionate assessments to the president.

Pulte has been among the most combative members of the administration. He has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department alleging mortgage fraud by 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. All four have denied wrongdoing and characterized the referrals as politically motivated. Democrats seized on that record as evidence that Pulte would bring a partisan agenda to a role that traditionally demands independence.

Under federal succession rules, Pulte will be able to serve in the acting capacity until Jan. 26, 2027, giving the administration a lengthy runway before it would need to nominate a permanent successor subject to Senate confirmation. The arrangement allows Trump to install a trusted loyalist atop the intelligence apparatus without an immediate confirmation fight.

The White House defended the move, casting Pulte as a capable executive and ally. But the appointment is likely to intensify oversight battles on Capitol Hill, where members of the intelligence committees have already signaled they intend to scrutinize how a sitting housing-finance regulator can credibly manage the nation's secrets. The dual-hatted structure — running the mortgage giants and the intelligence community at once — is itself without clear precedent, raising questions about conflicts of interest and the sheer bandwidth required to do either job, let alone both.