Pulte as spy chief would give Trump attack dog access to ‘crown jewels’
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, speaks to the press at the White House on July 24, 2025.
Sarah L. Voisin | Washington Post | Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence will give the president’s housing agency attack dog access to the nation’s most valuable secrets; A move that analysts fear could further politicize the office and erode U.S. intelligence gathering.
Trump on Tuesday appointed the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to replace outgoing national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard.
Pulte was not experienced in national intelligence and was an investor and manager of a home construction company PulteGroup Before joining the government. As director of national intelligence, Pulte will be at the top of the United States’ sprawling intelligence community and have access to the country’s most sensitive national secrets.
This lack of experience and Pulte’s tendency to use information from housing agencies to support investigations into Trump’s political rivals alarmed intelligence analysts and federal lawmakers; They also warned that Pulte’s office could weaponize the president against domestic political rivals and undermine trust in U.S. intelligence.
“This is the latest example of some of the amateurish, ridiculous appointments Trump has made in his second term,” said Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and National Security Council official in the Obama administration who now runs the firm Global Situation Room. “This opens up the possibility that we may see our intelligence structures and systems further eroded and the role of intelligence used in more inappropriate and even illegal ways.”
Bruen said the move would transition Pulte from “cafeteria-style receiving of sensitive information to the crown jewels of our most guarded secrets.”
This includes access to highly sensitive intelligence gathering efforts and information on human intelligence sources and surveillance tools.
The White House defended Trump’s choice when asked about concerns about Pulte’s qualifications and whether he would weaponize the U.S. intelligence community.
“The President selects the best and most capable individuals to serve in his Cabinet,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in an emailed statement. he said. “That’s why this Administration has achieved record success for the American people. Bill Pulte is a great choice and will do a great job on behalf of the American people.”
Pulte used his access to mortgage records during his tenure at the housing agency to prosecute some prominent Trump rivals.
The Justice Department charged New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who previously sued Trump, with bank fraud, but the charge was later dismissed. Pulte filed a criminal complaint against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over similar allegations, prompting Trump to try to fire her; This case is still pending before the Supreme Court.
“We saw what Pulte was willing to do with sensitive personal mortgage information, both by disclosing it and using it as a weapon against the president’s rivals,” said Larry Pfeiffer, the former senior director of the White House Situation Room and chief of staff to former Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden. Pfeiffer is currently the director of the Hayden Intelligence Center at George Mason University.
“Now do we really want to give this man access to our nation’s deepest, most sensitive national security secrets?” Pfeiffer asked. “I don’t think so.”
Pfeiffer said Pulte’s appointment would give him access to “any and all intelligence produced by the United States intelligence community.”
“These are tools that can easily be directed at American citizens,” he said, referring to surveillance options that he called “the most powerful surveillance tools of any nation in the world.”
“There’s technically nothing stopping you from directing these to American citizens,” Pfeiffer said.
Gabbard raised concerns among members of Congress after appearing in an FBI raid on an election office in Georgia in January.
Pulte’s selection also shows how Trump views the director of national intelligence position, a former CIA station chief who requested anonymity to discuss intelligence concerns.
“Assigning a lap dog is symbolic of his lack of respect or need for the DNI,” the CIA veteran said.
Capitol Hill worried about Pulte
Pulte’s appointment also raised alarm on Capitol Hill. She can serve as espionage chief for 210 days, while the Senate must approve Gabbard’s full-time replacement.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S.D., had a lukewarm response to Pulte’s nomination in brief comments to reporters Tuesday.
“We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there,” Thune told reporters at the Capitol when asked if he was concerned about Pulte using his perch to weaponize intelligence against the president’s domestic rivals.
Thune said he wanted more information from the White House “about the current state of thinking on this position.” Thune said Pulte will have a “long road” ahead of him if the White House wants Pulte to stay on full time.
And Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who recently lost a Senate primary after Trump endorsed his opponent, questioned Pulte’s choice.
“I see no evidence of any qualifications for this job,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
Meanwhile, Democrats gutted Pulte’s candidacy.
Senate intelligence committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said Trump “elected an official who has shown himself not only willing but willing to use government powers to pursue political revenge.”
“The concern is not just that Mr. Pulte does not have the ‘extensive national security experience’ required by law for the job created in the wake of the intelligence failures that led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. He appears to have been chosen because he believes the White House will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need,” Warner said in a statement. he said.
But it’s less clear whether Congress has any means to launch Pulte before the 210-day deadline expires.
law The law creating the Office of the Director of National Intelligence required that in the event of a vacancy, the replacement would “have extensive national security experience and management expertise.” Additionally, the principal deputy director, currently Aaron Lukas, “shall act on behalf of and exercise the powers of the Director of National Intelligence during the absence or disability of the Director of National Intelligence or a vacancy in the position of Director of National Intelligence.”
“Can someone take [Trump] Are you going to court because of this appointment? Probably,” Pfeiffer said, but cautioned that there was a good chance Pulte would expire before the case went anywhere. “I don’t think it’s an effective tool.”
— Eamon Javers contributed to this report.
Correction: Bill Pulte can serve as acting director of national intelligence for 210 days. A previous version of this story misstated the time period.
