Pulte will do double duty as the temporary director of national intelligence and head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he’s led efforts to prosecute the president’s political foes on mortgage fraud charges.
WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Bill Pulte, the head of his administration’s federal housing agency, will also become acting director of national intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard stepped down from the role late last month.
It’s a major expansion of responsibilities for Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who has become well-known under the second Trump administration for his efforts to pursue mortgage fraud charges against some of the president’s fiercest political enemies.
In a post on Truth Social Tuesday morning, Trump said Pulte had “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America,” pointing to his position as chairman of federal mortgage organizations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The president said the federal housing director would remain in his post at the agency while also serving as head of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Pulte, 38, will step into the shoes of Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate who just weeks ago resigned as director of national intelligence.
Gabbard said at the time she was leaving the position to care for her husband, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, but that she would remain on through the end of June to ensure a smooth transition.
Ahead of her departure, Gabbard — who has long been critical of U.S. military intervention abroad — was reportedly sidelined from White House discussions about the war in Iran.
Pulte, for his part, has little experience in military or intelligence matters. During his tenure as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the businessman and residential construction company heir has repeatedly probed Democrats and high-ranking government officials for mortgage fraud. Trump leveraged those accusations last year to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, sparking a federal lawsuit.
The federal housing director has also recommended criminal charges against California Senator Adam Schiff, former California Representative Eric Swalwell and New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing each of committing mortgage fraud. Critics of the Trump administration have pointed out that Pulte’s targets are also political foes of the president.
Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that Pulte’s appointment “speaks volumes about what this president expects from the nation’s top intelligence official.”
“Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution,” said Warner, pointing to his leadership of the government’s housing finance agency.
“That 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,” Warner added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Pulte a “partisan thug” and argued he has no intelligence experience.
“He is another unqualified Trump appointee that will make our country less safe,” said the top Democrat. “And you won’t hear a word from the Republicans who claim to care about national security.”
A spokesperson for Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the upper chamber’s intelligence panel, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Trump did not say Tuesday when Pulte might take over for Gabbard. The outgoing U.S. spy chief said last month that her last day would be June 30.
As it stands, it appears Pulte will only lead the intelligence community in an acting capacity. If the president taps him to fill the role full-time, the Senate will need to confirm him.
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