Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte, nominee for US President Donald Trump, during the confirmation hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
El Drago Bloomberg | getty images
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte will not be permanently appointed to that post.
Trump’s comments came two days after he appointed Pulte as acting DNI to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He is replacing outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
The move drew criticism on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers condemned his lack of intelligence experience and his history as a political attack dog for Trump.
“It’s not permanent, he’s not going to be permanent, because, you know, I don’t think he’ll want to be permanent,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
Despite the US intelligence community’s focus on foreign targets, Trump signaled Pulte’s involvement in domestic investigations.
“He’s a very smart guy, and you might know some things about rigging elections and so on and so forth.”
Gabbard sparked controversy in January when she appeared at an FBI raid in which records related to the 2020 election were seized from the Fulton County Clerk’s office in Georgia.
Gabbard told congressional lawmakers that Trump had “requested” that she join the raid and that she was there only “for a short time” to observe the execution of an FBI search warrant.
“We are interviewing people right now for the DNI position,” Trump said Thursday.
Pulte, the president said, is “somebody to handle this for a while.”
Trump previously said Pulte would continue to lead the FHFA and serve as chairman of the mortgage groups. fannie mae and Freddie Mac serving as acting DNI.
The DNI oversees the US intelligence community, which includes the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.
Trump also said that Pulte had the qualifications for the position despite his lack of intelligence background.
“I think he really does, because he’s smart,” Trump said. “I didn’t have a lot of national security experience and I think I did a really good job at it.”
“I would say Bill is a guy who will be able to figure it out very quickly,” Trump said. “Again, it’s short-term, but that can be very effective for short periods.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S.D. had mocked Pulte’s appointment on Tuesday.
“We don’t need an armed DNI, we need professionals there,” Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. called Pulte a “partisan thug with no experience in intelligence” in an X post on Tuesday.
