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Bill Pulte is the new Deputy Director of U.S. Intelligence.
EPA/BONNIE CASH / POOL/KEYSTONE
Even for his predecessor, Bill Pulte’s appointment as head of U.S. intelligence came as a surprise. He’s expected to cut the number of employees—and strike fear into the hearts of Donald Trump’s opponents.
Following Tulsi Gabbard’s withdrawal, business lawyer Jay Clayton was actually supposed to take the helm of the U.S. intelligence community. His confirmation has now been postponed by Donald Trump himself—even though Trump nominated him. The fact that the controversial Bill Pulte is being appointed as acting director first seems to be more important to the president than a smooth transition.
His appointment has sparked a fierce controversy, in which even members of Trump’s own Republican Party have sided with the protesting Democrats. They are now blocking the renewal of the FISA Act, the legal basis for many of the U.S. intelligence agencies’ surveillance powers. Who is Bill Pulte, and why is he so controversial?
One thing that the 38-year-old Pulte and Trump have in common is their social background: both men’s grandfathers amassed a fortune from which their descendants continue to benefit to this day. Pulte’s grandfather, William J. Pulte, founded the PulteGroup in 1950, a company that revolutionized residential construction in the U.S.
The position of deputy director of national intelligence is already Pulte’s second role within the Trump administration: he currently serves as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees government-sponsored mortgage finance institutions.
Trump expected Pulte to limit the government’s authority to oversee these institutions, which had been severely curtailed in 2008 in response to the economic crisis. As one of his first official acts, Pulte appointed himself chairman of the mortgage giants and government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Pulte is considered a staunch Trump loyalist. No sooner had he taken office than he began accusing prominent critics of the president of mortgage fraud—including Lisa Cook, a governor of the Federal Reserve. She had been successfully nominated by Joe Biden in 2023 for a 14-year term.
However, Trump’s attempt to remove Cook based on these allegations failed. No charges were ever filed, which is why appellate courts blocked her removal.
Cases like Lisa Cook’s illustrate the role Trump envisions for Bill Pulte within his political apparatus: he is supposed to clean house. This was also the case when Pulte served as Deputy Director of National Intelligence—a field in which he has absolutely no experience.
Given his experience with Tulsi Gabbard, it stands to reason that Trump would want to install a loyalist here. Gabbard fell out of favor with the president—ironically, because of the very qualities that had made the former Democrat interesting to the Republican in the first place.
Unlike her former boss, Gabbard took the doctrine of American isolationism seriously. As part of his “America First” agenda, Trump had announced that he would keep the United States out of international conflicts in the future. One kidnapping of a head of state and the start of a war without a formal declaration of war later, little remains of that agenda.
Officially, Gabbard resigned from her post due to her husband’s cancer. But even before that, observers had noticed that Gabbard—who had spoken out against both the attack on Iran and military action in Venezuela—was being involved less and less in key foreign policy decisions.
Many view Gabbard’s refusal, during a congressional hearing, to adopt the government’s official line—that the Islamic Republic posed an acute threat to the U.S.—as the final nail in the coffin of her tenure at the White House.
Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard opposed the military interventions in Iran and Venezuela.
Archivbild: Tom Brenner/FR117851 AP/dpa
Gabbard was reportedly kept in the dark even about her successor’s arrival. As CNN reports, she was taken by surprise by a phone call in which Pulte informed her that he would now be taking over. Gabbard reacted with irritation: she had been assured she would remain in office until the end of June.
During a conversation, Friday, June 19, was agreed upon as the date for Pulte to take over. She had only been informed shortly before that her successor had already arrived a day earlier.
But Gabbard isn’t the only one in Trump’s inner circle who finds Pulte’s confrontational style off-putting. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is reportedly not amused that Pulte is bypassing her role as a mediator between the president and his team by simply calling Trump directly.
Republican Senator Mike Rounds is also critical of Pulte’s actions. “I think the most important thing for us right now is to get Jay [Clayton] into office as quickly as possible.”
Clayton is Gabbard’s intended successor. He was supposed to be confirmed by Congress for his new position on Wednesday. But Trump blocked the confirmation of the politician he himself had nominated—allegedly out of frustration over the Democrats’ FISA blockade—which, however, is linked to the appointment of Bill Pulte.
This move has caused confusion within Trump’s own party. “It is regrettable that the president instructed Jay Clayton not to appear for his own confirmation,” Republican Tom Cotton wrote on social media, for example. Cotton is generally considered a loyal Trump supporter.
Now Pulte is tasked with cleaning house at the intelligence agencies. During his surprise visit on Thursday, he reportedly asked for a list of all employees so he could decide who was expendable.
Even aside from these intentions, the new director’s behavior is said to have caused irritation. For instance, he reportedly asked to review the president’s daily briefing, which contains highly sensitive and, in some cases, classified information. He is also said to have inquired whether, in his new position, he would be able to access documents at the highest security clearance level.
The leadership of the intelligence agencies is generally considered a non-political role within the government. Many now fear that Pulte will instead use his new powers to take action against Trump’s opponents.
Trump himself makes little secret of these ambitions. “Pulte will find out more about the rigged elections,” he said. “I think he really wants to do that.”
