President Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped Invoice Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Company, to function performing director of nationwide intelligence, succeeding outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
Pulte, who has served as an assault canine towards Trump’s foes, has no recognized prior intelligence expertise.
However in his new function, he’ll oversee the sprawling U.S. intelligence neighborhood, which incorporates the CIA and Nationwide Safety Company.
Pulte on the identical time will proceed working as FHFA director and chairman of the mortgage teams Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Trump wrote in a Fact Social publish asserting the choice.
Democrats instantly condemned Pulte’s appointment, and the Senate’s prime Republican additionally criticized the transfer.
“We do not want a weaponized DNI, we want professionals there,” Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., informed reporters on Capitol Hill.
Thune mentioned he’s in search of extra info from the Trump administration “concerning the present state of their fascinated with that place.”
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in an X publish known as Pulte “a partisan thug with no expertise in intelligence.”
“He’s one other unqualified Trump appointee that can make our nation much less secure. And you will not hear a phrase from the Republicans who declare to care about nationwide safety,” Schumer mentioned.
Trump had beforehand introduced that Principal Deputy Director of Nationwide Intelligence Aaron Lukas would take over as performing DNI after Gabbard, who was slated to depart June 30.
The White Home didn’t reply to CNBC’s requests for clarification on when Pulte’s tenure at DNI would start, and whether or not Lukas would stay in his present function.
“The President chooses the perfect and most proficient individuals to serve in his Cupboard,” White Home spokesman Davis Ingle mentioned in an announcement. “That’s the reason this Administration has achieved file successes for the American individuals. Invoice Pulte is a good choice and he’ll do an awesome job on behalf of the American individuals.”
Trump wrote in his Fact Social publish that Pulte “has deep expertise managing essentially the most delicate issues in America, the protection and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion {Dollars} at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a considerable improve from the place it was simply 12 months in the past.”
From his perch atop the usually low-profile housing regulatory company, Pulte has spurred a firestorm of controversy by elevating allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing towards a number of of Trump’s political opponents.
Pulte final yr filed a legal referral towards Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook dinner for mortgage fraud based mostly on Cook dinner allegedly claiming two completely different properties as her main residence on the identical time.
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook dinner participates in a board assembly on the Federal Reserve on March 19, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Pictures
Trump, who has lengthy urged the Fed to decrease rates of interest and often complains concerning the central financial institution’s refusal to behave accordingly, tried to fireplace Cook dinner based mostly on the mortgage allegations.
Cook dinner sued to cease her firing; her case is at the moment pending earlier than the Supreme Court docket.
Pulte additionally submitted a legal referral towards New York Legal professional Common Letitia James on allegations of falsifying financial institution paperwork and property data in reference to a house mortgage she obtained in 2020.
James was charged in October with financial institution fraud and making false statements to a monetary establishment. In November, a federal decide dismissed her case after ruling that the interim U.S. lawyer who introduced the indictment, former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, was invalidly appointed.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., mentioned in an announcement Tuesday morning that Pulte’s appointment “speaks volumes about what this president expects from the nation’s prime intelligence official.”
“The priority just isn’t solely that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘in depth nationwide safety expertise’ required by statute for the job,” Warner mentioned. “It’s that he seems to have been chosen exactly as a result of the White Home believes he’ll present the narrative it needs, not the intelligence we want.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the rating member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and City Affairs Committee, mentioned Pulte has spent his time on the FHFA “abusing his authority to assault the President’s perceived political enemies, prompting the congressional watchdog to examine his dealing with of delicate monetary info.”
“Immediately, President Trump is rewarding his lackey — who has no nationwide safety expertise — with a perch atop our nation’s intelligence neighborhood. What may go mistaken?” she mentioned in an announcement.
Gabbard informed Trump on Could 22 that she needed to step down as DNI with the intention to help her husband following his prognosis of “an especially uncommon type of bone most cancers.”
— CNBC’s Garrett Downs contributed to this report.
