President Donald Trump has named Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, succeeding Tulsi Gabbard who recently announced she plans to resign from the role at the end of June. <\/p>\n
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Pulte, a close Trump ally who serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has \u201cdeep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,\u201d the president wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
While he serves as acting director of national intelligence, Pulte will remain as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency as well as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
The director of national intelligence is a Cabinet role that requires Senate confirmation, but naming Pulte in an acting capacity allows the president to bypass that process for now. It was not immediately clear if Pulte will be Trump\u2019s permanent pick for the job. <\/p>\n
Pulte has served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency since March 2025 after being confirmed by the Senate in a 56-43 vote. Three Democrats joined Republicans in supporting his nomination: Sens. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. <\/p>\n
In his role leading the agency, Pulte has targeted Democrats whom Trump perceives as his political enemies. In March, Pulte made two criminal referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/a>, alleging insurance fraud, several months after Trump\u2019s Justice Department failed to prosecute her for a third time. James\u2019 lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, called the allegations \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n In May 2025, Pulte sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department for Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., another Democrat against whom Trump has sought retribution. The probe into mortgage fraud allegations against Schiff, which he denied, ultimately stalled<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, slammed Trump\u2019s decision to select Pulte in a scathing statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the \u2018extensive national security experience\u2019 required by statute for the job, which was created after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9\/11. It is that he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need,\u201d Warner said.<\/p>\n Pulte was \u201cchosen for his willingness to advance the president\u2019s political agenda rather than his experience,\u201d Warner continued, saying that should worry Americans. \u201cThat is how intelligence becomes politicized, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it, and how Americans are left more vulnerable to a terrorist attack,\u201d Warner said.<\/p>\n When asked if he was concerned that Pulte could weaponize the intelligence community, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., replied: \u201cWell, we don\u2019t need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there. So, I\u2019ve just heard about it. Trying to get more information about the current state of their thinking about that position, and again, if he\u2019s somebody that wants that position permanently, he\u2019s got, as you all know, a lengthy road ahead of him.\u201d<\/p>\n Thune\u2019s counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was blunt, calling Pulte a \u201cpartisan thug with no experience in intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats have tried to take action against Pulte in the past. In September 2025, House Democrats asked an inspector general to investigate Pulte<\/a> over mortgage fraud allegations he made against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, accusations she has denied. <\/p>\n In November 2025, then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., sued Pulte, alleging that he used his position to \u201cconcoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud\u201d<\/a> against the congressman, who recently resigned from Congress following sexual misconduct allegations against him, which he also denied. <\/p>\n