Trump’s decision to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence has prompted unusually open backlash, even from conservatives, as lawmakers question his qualifications and worry the move could inflame a fight over surveillance powers.
Bill Pulte’s rise to acting director of national intelligence landed like a gut punch inside the political ecosystem that usually treats Donald Trump’s picks as gospel. There was praise at first, then hesitation. Then the kind of unease that rarely surfaces so plainly within MAGA media.
Tulsi Gabbard resigned as director of national intelligence in May. and the scramble for her replacement quickly reached a line even Trump’s most loyal corners struggled to cross. Pulte. the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. has no meaningful background in intelligence. espionage. military affairs. counterterrorism. or national security—credentials that critics say are foundational for the job he has been handed.
Instead. Pulte’s career highlights—according to the account now drawing fire—include inheriting a construction fortune. running an attention-seeking cash-giveaway scheme on social media. and serving as Trump’s head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. where he became a top proponent of a predatory and controversial 50-year mortgage.
But the sharpest focus has not been on résumé gaps. It has been on what critics describe as Pulte’s willingness to weaponize government power against domestic political opponents. After taking over the housing finance agency, he sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department targeting Democrats including California Sen. Adam Schiff, former California Rep. Eric Swalwell, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The referrals produced no charges. In James’s case, a federal judge dismissed it after finding that Trump’s handpicked prosecutor had been unlawfully installed.
In December, the Government Accountability Office launched an investigation into whether Pulte abused his government position to target political enemies. For Trump’s allies, the fact that this record didn’t seem to disqualify him—at least in the eyes of the president—became a flashpoint.
Steve Bannon. operating in his trademark wartime-consigliere style on his “War Room” podcast. treated the appointment as a warning sign for Trump’s critics on the left. He praised the selection and quickly pushed for MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec of Pizzagate infamy to be installed as Pulte’s deputy.
Yet even that celebratory posture couldn’t erase what conservatives were publicly struggling with: a housing regulator ascending to the country’s top intelligence post. The dissonance was visible even among people who normally absorb Trump’s improvisations with minimal friction.
Erick Erickson. the conservative radio host and founder of the RedState political blog. wrote on X that “Bill Pulte is one of the worst members of the President’s team. ” and said he had convinced Trump to do more stupid stuff than anyone else in the past year. Jonah Goldberg. editor in chief of the right-leaning outlet The Dispatch. was equally blunt: “Great. a totally unqualified loyalist with a record of cutting corners to help the president punish political opponents. Just the guy you want at DNI.” On Fox News. Washington Examiner contributor Byron York called Pulte “a pretty poor choice.”.
The revolt is happening alongside a question that lawmakers are asking without much comfort: whether Pulte is even fit to hold the trust the role demands. Even Gabbard—who, during her tenure, cut more than 30% of the ODNI staff—was described by critics as more qualified.
The structure of the DNI job itself matters here. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the DNI office and position. The initiative was designed so that 18 intelligence agencies collaborated—so the country would never again fail to “connect the dots” as it did before Sept. 11. The law explicitly says the director role should go to someone with “extensive national security expertise.” Pulte. critics argue. does not meet that standard.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine—one of the authors of the law that created the DNI position—said she did not know whether Pulte even has a security clearance. “I do not know Mr. Pulte at all,” Collins told reporters on Tuesday. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton offered what critics described as a frozen. evasive non-comment. a signal that lawmakers felt too intimidated or too exhausted to defend what they see as the indefensible.
Outgoing Sen. Bill Cassidy, recently defeated by a Trump-endorsed primary challenger in Louisiana, was more direct: “The best I can tell you is he’s not qualified.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune also signaled discomfort, telling reporters “we don’t need a weaponized DNI.”
The decision also threatens to pull the Senate into a broader fight over surveillance authority. Punchbowl News reported on Wednesday that the White House had already signaled to top Republicans that Aaron Lukas—whom Trump had named acting DNI just 12 days earlier—would remain in that role for an extended period. Democrats have warned that Pulte’s elevation could jeopardize the fragile Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization process.
Trump has long relied on acting officials to bypass Senate confirmation fights. a strategy critics say helps him install loyalists quickly while avoiding scrutiny of qualifications. Acting officials, the reporting notes, can wield significant authority without congressional approval. During Trump’s first term. Richard Grenell used a chaotic three-month stint to fire career officials. radically restructure the office. and declassify documents regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election—a move that so alienated lawmakers he could never be confirmed.
Pulte, critics say, may now have the chance to replicate that approach.
Reporting also describes how Trump arrived at Pulte through what the Wall Street Journal characterized as a tradition of sycophancy. describing him as “Little Trump.” In private conversations with the president. Pulte made a case that he would be an “unyielding advocate” for Trump’s foreign policy agenda. explicitly signaling his eager support for the war in Iran.
Other details deepen the concern about how the DNI’s powers might be used. Semafor reported that longtime Trump ally Roger Stone pushed hard for Pulte with the hope he would use the DNI’s declassification powers to release documents supporting conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. Separately. the New York Times reported on Friday that right-wing reporter John Solomon will join the Trump administration to work on “transparency” issues related to the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Seen in sequence, the controversy becomes hard to dismiss as mere partisan drama. A DNI office created through the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to coordinate intelligence across 18 agencies sits at the center of a fight now driven. critics say. by loyalty tests. declassification leverage. and domestic political targeting—an argument sharpened by lawmakers who say they don’t know basic trust requirements like whether Pulte has a security clearance.
Trump Bill Pulte acting director of national intelligence DNI Tulsi Gabbard ODNI Federal Housing Finance Agency surveillance authority FISA reauthorization Senate confirmations Susan Collins Tom Cotton Bill Cassidy John Thune Roger Stone declassification