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President Donald Trump has named William “Bill” Pulte, the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as the next acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a position for which he has no expertise or apparent qualifications.
Pulte will take over the role upon the exit of current DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation last month. Trump announced Pulte’s appointment in his preferred way: in a post on Truth Social.
The president claimed Pulte has “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America,” including “the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.” The comments about the FHFA director come as millions of Americans are struggling financially and housing mortgage rates have hit a nine-month high.
Trump also said that Pulte “will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac” while he assumes the DNI role.
As an “acting” official, Pulte will not have to undergo Senate confirmation, a move Trump may have done on purpose, given Pulte’s lack of experience. Pulte can remain in that position for 210 days, at which point Trump will either have to formally submit Pulte’s name as a permanent nominee, or select a different DNI pick.
According to the DNI government webpage, the director “serves as the head of the Intelligence Community,” and is the “principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security.” The Intelligence Community is made up of over a dozen U.S. civilian and military analysis and espionage agencies, including the CIA, NSA, and military intelligence branches.
Pulte, who has primarily worked in private equity, has never been involved in a national intelligence position within the federal government. Pulte also has never served in any branch of the U.S. military. In terms of what the position entails, Pulte is set to become the least-qualified person ever to head the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Pulte’s tenure as head of FHFA has been mired in controversy, largely due to his deep loyalty to Trump. Pulte has sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) against several figures the president has deemed his political enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), former head of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, and others.
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The referrals alleged that those individuals engaged in mortgage fraud — assertions viewed with skepticism by legal experts, landing Pulte his own open investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
Several critics on social media sounded off on Pulte’s appointment, noting that his loyalty to Trump seems to be his key qualifying feature for the DNI position.
“To whomever is reading this, you are just as qualified for this role as Bill Pulte,” HuffPost deputy editor Phil Lewis wrote on Bluesky.
“Pulte has no national intelligence expertise. None. Loyalty, not competence,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said.
Political activist and author Leah McElrath took note of Pulte’s family history, writing:
Pulte is a real estate developer whose grandfather is in the Epstein files for facilitating the laundering of Russian money to Donald Trump through a real estate deal apparently brokered by Epstein.
Pulte “now oversees the entire US intelligence infrastructure,” McElrath said, adding that Pulte has “shown himself to be someone willing to target Trump’s political opponents and will likely use that infrastructure to do so.”
Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka also blasted Pulte’s appointment.
“Congress must not sign away unchecked spying powers to the government when Donald Trump’s top spy is a man whose primary qualification is his willingness to weaponize sensitive information held by the government against the president’s political enemies,” Vitka said in a statement shared with Truthout.
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