US Federal Housing FHFA Director William J. Pulte speaks to the press at the White House on Thursday, 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 put the attack dog at the president’s housing agency in charge of the nation’s most prized secrets, a move that analysts fear could politicize the office and destroy American intelligence.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was tapped by Trump on Tuesday morning to replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
Pulte has no national intelligence experience and was an investor and executive of a home construction firm. Pultegroup Before serving in the government. As DNI, Pulte will be placed at the helm of America’s vast intelligence community and will have access to the country’s most sensitive national secrets.
Pulte’s lack of experience and his tendency to use information from housing agencies to prosecute Trump’s political rivals have worried intelligence analysts and federal lawmakers alike, who have warned that Pulte could weaponize the office against the president’s domestic political rivals and undermine confidence in U.S. intelligence.
“This is the latest example of some of the amateurish, absurd things Trump has done in his second term,” said Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and National Security Council official under the Obama administration who now runs the firm Global Situation Room. “This opens up the real possibility that we could see our intelligence structures and systems become more vulnerable, and the role of intelligence could be used in more inappropriate and even illegal ways.”
Bruen said the move would elevate Pulte from receiving “cafeteria-type sensitive information to the crown jewels of our most protected secrets.”
This includes access to information about highly sensitive intelligence collection efforts and human intelligence sources and surveillance tools.
When the White House was asked about concerns about Pulte’s qualifications and whether he could weaponize the US intelligence community, it defended Trump’s choice.
“The President chooses the best and the brightest to serve in his Cabinet,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said by email. “That’s why this administration has achieved record successes for the American people. Bill Pulte is a great selection and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people.”
In his role at the top of the housing system, Pulte used his access to mortgage records to refer some top Trump foes for prosecution.
The Justice Department charged New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who previously prosecuted Trump, with bank fraud, a charge that was later dismissed. Pulte’s criminal reference to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on similar charges led to Trump’s attempt to fire her, a case still pending in the Supreme Court.
Larry Pfeiffer, former senior director of the White House Situation Room and chief of staff to Michael Hayden, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said, “We have seen what Pulte was willing to do to disclose sensitive personal hostage information and weaponize it against the president’s opponents.” Pfeiffer is now the director of the Hayden Center for Intelligence at George Mason University.
“Do we now really want to give this man access to our country’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 be easily targeted at American citizens,” he said, referring to surveillance options. He called it “the most powerful surveillance tool of any country in the world.”
“Technically there’s nothing that prevents you from pointing them at U.S. citizens,” Pfeiffer said.
Gabbard raised concerns from members of Congress after she appeared in an FBI raid of a Georgia elections office in January.
The former CIA station chief, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence concerns, said Pulte’s choice also reflects how Trump views the DNI position.
“Appointing a lapdog is a sign that he has no respect for or need for the DNI,” the CIA veteran said.
Capitol Hill is worried about Pulte
Pulte’s appointment has also raised concerns on Capitol Hill. She would be able to serve as spy chief in an acting capacity for up to 180 days, while the Senate would need to confirm a full-time replacement for Gabbard.
senate majority leader John Thune, R.S.D. expressed sharp reaction to Pulte’s nomination in brief remarks to reporters Tuesday.
When Thune was asked if he was concerned about Pulte weaponizing intelligence against the president’s domestic opponents, he told reporters at the Capitol, “We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there.”
Thune said he was seeking more information from the White House “about the current state of their thinking about that situation.” If the White House wants Pulte in the post full-time, Thune said Pulte will have “a long road ahead of him.”
And Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who recently lost the Senate primary after Trump endorsed his opponent, questioned Pulte’s choice.
“I don’t see any evidence of any qualifications for the job,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
Meanwhile, Democrats rejected Pulte’s nomination.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said Trump “has chosen an official who has demonstrated not only a willingness but an eagerness to use the authorities of the government to seek political retribution.”
Warner said in a statement, “The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience’ required by law for this job, which was created after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. It appears he was selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the detail it wants, not the intelligence we need.”
However, whether Congress has any tools to remove Pulte before his 210-day clock expires is less clear.
Law The creation of ODNI stipulated that the replacement in the vacant position must have “extensive national security experience and management expertise.” It also states that the Principal Deputy DNI, currently Aaron Lucas, “shall act for and exercise the powers of the Director of National Intelligence during the absence or disability of the Director of National Intelligence or during a vacancy in the office of the Director of National Intelligence.”
Pfeiffer said, “Could someone take (Trump) to court over this appointment? Possibly,” but he warned that Pulte’s time clock would run out before the case went anywhere. “I don’t think it’s an effective tool.”
—Eamon Javers Contributed to this report.