FHFA Director Bill Pulte speaks on CNBC on January 8, 2026.
CNBC
President Donald Trump reportedly told Bill Pulte, the incoming acting director of national intelligence, on Friday that he wants to “begin the process” of mass layoffs of employees in the DNI office.
The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump said in an interview that the layoffs would be part of a transformation of the U.S. intelligence community. The DNI Office oversees 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the National Security Agency.
Trump’s comments are sure to further upset members of Congress, including Republican senators, who had already criticized the president’s decision to appoint Pulte to replace retiring DNI Tulsi Gabbard earlier this week.
President Trump said Thursday that Pruitt “does not intend to serve in that position permanently.”
On Friday, while en route to Wisconsin on Air Force One, President Trump was asked by reporters who was considering a permanent DNI slot.
“There will be five interviews, and you’re going to have some very good people come and see you,” he said.
Pruitt, who has no intelligence experience, will continue to serve as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency until President Trump nominates someone else to serve as DNI.
The Journal reported Friday that Trump told Pruitt that he believed the DNI office was “unnecessary or too large,” the Journal reported, citing the president’s characterization of the discussion.
“I wish it would be smaller. I think there are a lot of people who shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, pointing to holdovers from the Biden and Obama administrations, the paper said.
When President Trump re-entered the White House in January 2025 for his second term, the DNI’s office had about 1,800 employees, according to Federal News Network.
After being confirmed by the Senate as DNI, Gabbard cut nearly 30% of her office’s workforce, the office said in a fact sheet published in August 2025, detailing plans for further cuts.
President Trump told the Journal that he wants Pruitt to “begin the process” of reducing the DNI staff, and that the eventual DNI nominee should continue that effort.
While Mr. Pruitt’s apparent lack of practical experience at the DNI has been a major concern for critics of his appointment, another factor is his aggressive targeting of people who have angered Mr. Trump.
Mr. Pulte last year brought criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook on suspicion of mortgage fraud.
Criminal charges against James in federal court in Virginia related to mortgage fraud charges were dismissed last year by a judge who ruled that the appointment of Lindsey Harrigan, the attorney chosen by President Trump to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was invalid.
Ms. James has denied any wrongdoing and said she was targeted after she successfully sued Mr. Trump in New York state court on charges of business fraud.
Last summer, President Trump called for Cook to be fired, citing Ms. Pruitt’s claims, which she denied. Mr. Cook, who angered Mr. Trump by refusing to vote for interest rate cuts requested by Mr. Trump, remains at the Fed pending a Supreme Court ruling on whether the president can fire him for such reasons.
