Pulte intelligence appointment threatens surveillance renewal push

President Donald Trump’s decision to name Bill Pulte acting director of national intelligence has drawn sharp objections from Democrats and raised new doubts about Congress’s effort to renew a major surveillance authority before it expires next week.

Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was tapped to lead the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies after Tulsi Gabbard left the post. He has no public record of military service or national intelligence experience. Trump praised him for “deep 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.”

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned Pulte’s qualifications in an NPR interview Wednesday, saying he “would not even qualify” under the law. Warner said Pulte has “no experience in the military, no experience in Congress, no experience in the intel community or law enforcement” and was selected because he is “100% loyal to doing anything and everything President Trump demands.”

Warner also said making Pulte an acting director could give him “six months’ runway,” potentially keeping him atop the intelligence community until after the November midterm elections.

The fight comes as lawmakers face a June 12 deadline to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The authority allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign targets outside the United States without a warrant. The program has drawn scrutiny because those communications can pass through U.S. servers or involve people in the United States, allowing domestic communications to be collected without a warrant.

Senior Democrats said the appointment could jeopardize a fragile bipartisan agreement to extend Section 702. Warner told NPR that placing Pulte in control of “all of our intelligence agencies with all the absolutely classified things” while Congress debates renewal would amount to “almost unilaterally disarming in terms of Russia, China, Iran, and terrorists.” He added, “We have no idea whether the individual even has a security clearance.”

During a Tuesday hearing, Warner said: “What qualifications from my standpoint does Mr Pulte bring to the office? Well, he has shown that he is willing to do anything that President Trump wants, legal or otherwise.” In the NPR interview, he said he had less confidence in the renewal effort after the appointment and described it as putting “someone with no intelligence background, any record of misusing private information, in charge of Director of National Intelligence” at the worst possible moment.

The Guardian reported that Warner privately asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune to press the White House to reverse the appointment, citing Punchbowl News. Democratic sources said a bipartisan Section 702 deal could collapse if Trump does not change course, according to the report.

Thune gave a restrained response to the pick, telling reporters that “we don’t need a weaponized” national intelligence director and that Pulte would face “a lengthy road ahead of him” if nominated permanently. Asked about concerns that Pulte could use intelligence powers against Trump’s political opponents, Thune said, “We need professionals there.”

The Guardian reported that critics have accused Pulte of targeting political opponents at the FHFA, where he leveled unproven fraud allegations against figures including Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook. Cook has denied wrongdoing. Trump tried to use the allegations to remove her from the Fed’s board, and she refused to step down, leading to a legal fight now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also raised concerns. “The very nature of our collection is now going to be put in the hands of somebody who has a history of seeking out private information for political gain,” he said.

The bill being circulated by Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton and Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley would extend Section 702 through June 2029. It includes new penalties for intelligence abuses, additional FBI search requirements and a three-year ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a digital currency, a concession to House hardliners. Democratic support is needed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.