Trump’s pick for acting director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte, arrived at his new position a day ahead of schedule on Thursday and immediately requested a list of every employee in the office to assess whether to fire them, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Pulte has plans to eliminate hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. The office was created in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to improve information sharing across the federal government.
Pulte’s unexpected Thursday appearance at ODNI surprised employees, including outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard, who received only minimal advance notice of the visit. Trump himself had said that Pulte, who is a Trump loyalist with no known national security experience, would start his job Friday.
During his early arrival, Pulte met with lawyers and staffers at the office. In his only other briefing with ODNI the previous week, Pulte inquired whether he could take the President’s Daily Brief home with him, causing concern among intelligence officials, according to one source. The brief consists of highly classified intelligence regarding critical national security issues of the day, generally offered to select officials via tablet or hard copy.
Despite the briefing being meant to explain the core mission of ODNI to Pulte, he asked questions about what level of security clearance he would receive and whether he would have access to a government plane. Before being named acting director, Pulte lacked a security clearance granting him access to highly classified information—something that has traditionally been considered an essential requirement for the position.
Another source familiar with the situation said Pulte has frequently asked about his schedule and government plane access, seeming excessively focused on traveling between Florida, Chicago and Washington, D.C.—cities between which he splits his time. The source described Pulte’s questions related to his schedule and the demands of the job as “a bit odd.” Pulte also asked whether he could have a protective security detail before starting his position.
Trump announced Pulte would serve as acting director after Gabbard resigned following her husband’s cancer diagnosis. The president told the Wall Street Journal he directed Pulte to fire people from the intelligence office because it employs too many workers. Trump said the staffing level is “way too high for way too long,” adding that he wouldn’t mind if Pulte made cuts.
The decision to appoint Pulte has surprised many Republicans and angered Democratic senators due to Pulte’s lack of experience and his actions as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he targeted Trump’s perceived political adversaries. As head of the housing authority, Pulte came under fire when he used his office to send criminal referrals for allegations of mortgage fraud against multiple Democrats who had investigated the president.
Representative Jim Himes, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, expressed concern about the reports of Pulte’s arrival at ODNI, stating they demonstrate why Pulte should never spend a minute as director of National Intelligence, a role he is legally not qualified to perform.
There is concern from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill that Pulte is unfit for the job and could go further than Gabbard did in embracing Trump’s grievances in what is supposed to be an apolitical role. Trump has reportedly given Pulte a mandate to further shrink the intelligence community and pursue the president’s false claims of election fraud.
One source close to Pulte explained the president’s thinking behind the appointment, saying Trump wanted someone in that position who is a true loyalist who will do what he wants him to do, and he has that in Pulte.
The White House had assured Gabbard she would remain in the job until the end of the month, but Pulte called her and said he was taking over the position. The two ultimately decided she would leave her post on June 19, the day before Pulte officially arrived. Pulte even tried to speak at Gabbard’s send-off ceremony.
Trump indicated on Friday that he is interviewing five other candidates to permanently replace Gabbard, though Pulte remains in the acting role for now. Concerns about the temporary appointment are delaying the renewal of a national security surveillance program that Pulte would help administer. The Senate on Friday blocked an extension of that program, but lawmakers are expected to try again next week before it expires on June 12.
