Trump Names Bill Pulte Acting DNI, Keeping Him Over $10 Trillion Housing Empire

3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 2

Less than two weeks after Tulsi Gabbard said she would leave at the end of June, Trump tapped Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence.
Pulte will keep running the Federal Housing Finance Agency and remain chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, extending his reach across agencies tied to more than $10 trillion in housing finance.
The acting DNI oversees 18 intelligence agencies and the president’s daily intelligence brief, but the office’s clout depends heavily on its relationship with the president because it does not run foreign spy operations.
Republican lawmakers had hoped for a nominee with a clearer path to Senate confirmation before the midterms, and Sen. John Cornyn said he saw no evidence Pulte was qualified.
Democrats including Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Adam Schiff said the pick signaled Trump wanted a loyalist who would politicize intelligence powers, echoing criticism of Pulte’s tenure at the housing agency.

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Can one person oversee America's mortgage market and its national intelligence simultaneously?