U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Administrator William Pelt attends his confirmation hearing at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Thursday, February 27, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte will not be permanently appointed to the post.
President Trump’s comments came two days after he named Pruitt, who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting DNI. She will replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
The move sparked criticism on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers criticizing his lack of intelligence experience and Trump’s history as a political attack dog.
Asked why he thought Pruitt was the best person for the job, Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday: “It’s not permanent. He’s not going to be permanent, because I don’t think he wants it to be permanent.”
President Trump hinted that Pruitt would step into a domestic investigation even as U.S. intelligence agencies focus on foreign targets.
“He’s a very smart guy, so he might know something about election fraud and things like that.”
Gabbard sparked controversy in January when she appeared in an FBI raid that seized records related to the 2020 election from the Fulton County Clerk’s Office in Georgia.
Gabbard told lawmakers that Trump “requested” her to participate in the raid and that she was only on the ground to observe the execution of an FBI search warrant “for a short period of time.”
“We’re interviewing people right now,” President Trump said Thursday, addressing the DNI post.
Mr. Pulte is “just someone to take over for a little while,” the president said.
President Trump previously said Pruitt would continue to lead FHFA and serve as chairman of the mortgage group. fannie mae and Freddie Mac are acting DNIs.
The DNI oversees the U.S. intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.
Trump also said Pruitt is qualified for the job despite having no intelligence background.
“Actually, I think he’s doing it because he’s smart,” Trump said. “I didn’t have a lot of experience in national security, but I think I did a really great job with national security.”
“I would say Bill is someone you can get to easily,” Trump said. “Again, it’s a short period of time, but he could be very effective in the short term.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S.D., on Tuesday ridiculed Pruitt’s appointment.
“We don’t need a weaponized DNI. We need experts there,” Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) called Pulte a “partisan thug with no intelligence experience” in an X post on Tuesday.
