Trump nominates Bill Pulte to replace Tulsi Gabbard as acting director of national intelligence
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US President Donald Trump has named Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, placing the real estate magnate and Trump confidant in a key national security position as the US continues its war with Iran.
Trump made the surprise announcement Tuesday on social media that Pulte will replace Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii who served as director of national intelligence (DNI). Trump said Pulte will retain his other position as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
The Republican president cited Pulte’s work at FHFA and his role as chairman of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as evidence that his real estate work would match the skills needed to coordinate the 18 federal agencies tasked with foreign and domestic security.
“William has deep experience managing America’s most critical issues, security and the health of markets,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Because Pulte was appointed acting, and confirmed by the Senate in his House role, he will not face an imminent confirmation hearing in that chamber. Trump has been accused by his critics of abusing the rules governing the appointment of acting officials in both his first and second terms, with some remaining in their roles for more than 210 days.
“I don’t see evidence of qualifications in that job, but as you know, the Senate does not have a role to play. [appointments],” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said of Trump’s choice.
Some Republicans also expressed reservations about the choice.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Pulte “looks out of place.”
“Besides his absence with an obvious degree, maybe I don’t know anything about it,” said Cassidy.
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It’s unclear what national security expertise Pulte has brought as the US grapples with conflicts in the Middle East, tried to mediate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine and manages the emergence of artificial intelligence as a military tool.
As the grandson of the founder of the PulteGroup, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, Pulte has cut corners on social media and used his position at the FHFA to attack perceived opponents of Trump.
His tenure overseeing the mortgage industry has been linked to criminal prosecutions for mortgage fraud by federal officials Trump sought to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam Schiff of California; and Lisa Cook, a member of the board of the US Federal Reserve, nominated by the president of the Democratic Alliance, Joe Biden.
“Bill Pulte is a criminal with no intelligence experience,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a tweet. “He is another unqualified Trump nominee who will make our country less safe.”
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The prosecution of James was dismissed in November after a judge ruled that the prosecutor who brought the charges was illegally appointed. Other referrals made by Pulte, including Schiff and Cook, did not result in any criminal charges. Lawyers for both have denied claims of wrongdoing. But Trump tried to use the mortgage fraud as an excuse to remove Cook from the Fed.
Pulte told reporters at the White House several months ago that he had impeached at least one Republican official, but declined to name them.
Pulte famously went after then-Fed chairman Jerome Powell for not cutting the central bank’s interest rate as much as the president wanted. He has also been linked to ideas such as 50-year mortgages and efforts to lower mortgage rates by purchasing defaulted mortgages as promised, as housing prices began to rise after the start of the Iran war.
Gabbard said she will step down from her job on June 30. She said her husband was recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and “faces some big challenges in the coming weeks and months.”
Originally a Democrat, Gabbard has opposed foreign wars throughout her political career and did not stand out as the Trump administration planned and abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro or launched its war on Iran in Feb. 28.
Pulte’s role as Trump’s attack dog could raise Democratic concerns that Trump will sow confusion before the November midterms. Gabbard appeared to play a key role in Trump’s bid to reverse his 2020 election loss by appearing earlier this year in an FBI search of election offices near Atlanta, although the DNI position was created to focus on foreign intelligence, not domestic elections.
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“Pulte’s only qualification is that he is willing to abuse his authority to destroy Trump’s political enemies,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. “He can’t have national security at all. He will go to the DNI to investigate Trump’s opponents before the election.”
