Intel Power Grab: Trump Defies Revolt

A revolt in Congress and a media pile‑on are testing President Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief—but Trump is not backing down.

Story Snapshot

President Trump picked housing regulator Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard.
Pulte will temporarily oversee all 18 intelligence agencies while still running the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the mortgage giants.
Critics in both parties claim he lacks national security experience and call the move a power grab.
The White House says Trump wants a trusted reformer to clean up an entrenched, highly political intelligence bureaucracy.

Trump Chooses a Trusted Reformer Over the Intelligence Establishment

President Donald Trump has named Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as the new acting Director of National Intelligence, stepping in as Tulsi Gabbard leaves the post at the end of the month.^[1]^[2] Pulte already runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairs mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, overseeing trillions of dollars in federally backed assets.^[2]^[3] Trump and his team say that track record shows he can manage sensitive systems and push long‑overdue reforms inside Washington’s most secretive bureaucracy.^[1]^[3]

Trump has stressed that Pulte’s role is acting, not permanent, meaning he can step in quickly without waiting months for a bruising Senate fight.^[2] Under the federal vacancies rules, Pulte can serve for a limited window after Gabbard’s resignation, giving the president time to keep the intelligence community running while he considers a permanent nominee.^[2] Supporters argue this is exactly how acting posts are supposed to work: keep the lights on, push needed change, and stop hostile holdovers from dragging their feet.

Congressional Revolt Shows Deep Resistance to Trump’s Intel Agenda

Bipartisan lawmakers are loudly attacking the pick, with some Republican senators saying Pulte is “not qualified” for the job and warning he could “compromise national security.”^[2] Media outlets that opposed Trump from the start have hammered the same line, calling Pulte a “housing official with no intelligence background” and stressing that he has “no demonstrated national security or intelligence experience.”^[4]^[5]^[7] Intelligence community veterans quoted in local and national coverage also question whether someone from mortgage regulation should lead America’s spy agencies, even on a temporary basis.^[3]^[5]

Many of these critics focus less on the law and more on norms, arguing that past Directors of National Intelligence usually had long careers in intelligence or the military.^[1]^[3]^[5] They claim that using an acting appointment lets the White House sidestep those informal standards while still gaining control over the office that coordinates all 18 intelligence agencies.^[1]^[2] Legal analysts note that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act gives presidents wide power to do exactly this, but they warn the law’s broad language makes it easy to install loyalists in powerful acting roles without full Senate scrutiny.

Pulte’s Record and Trump’s Push to Clean Out Political Holdovers

Coverage of Pulte’s time at the Federal Housing Finance Agency shows why he appeals to Trump and alarms the Washington establishment.^[1]^[4]^[5] As housing director, Pulte oversaw Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, managing what Trump called “the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the markets, and over $10 trillion” in assets.^[3] Reports also say he made criminal referrals that targeted some of Trump’s fiercest political foes, which critics cite as proof he is willing to challenge powerful insiders.^[4]^[5]

Bill @Pulte to become Acting DNI on June 19th pic.twitter.com/Qcq9u56B4K

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) June 9, 2026

Separate reporting says Trump has urged Pulte to shrink the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and remove officials tied to the Obama and Biden years, reflecting long‑standing conservative anger at politicized intelligence leaks and anti‑Trump bias.^[5] A former Central Intelligence Agency official writing in a national security outlet claims Pulte’s appointment signals an effort to make the office “more political,” but supporters see it as restoring accountability after years of unelected spies undercutting elected leaders.^[5] The White House has circulated statements from allies praising Pulte as a “battle‑tested reformer” ready to stand up to an entrenched bureaucracy.