NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump says he wants Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Bill Pulte to “begin the process” of firing public intelligence officials, he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.
Trump on Tuesday tapped Pulte to take over from current DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned in May after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Pulte, who will take over when Gabbard steps down on June 30, has allegedly been tasked with reducing the number of staff at the 18 intelligence agencies overseen by the DNI.
“I would like to see it less. I think there are a lot of people where they shouldn’t be,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal, referring to the intelligence community.
BILL NAMES TRUMP PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte walks outside the White House, September 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schifelbein)
The selection of Pulte, who currently serves as Trump’s director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, reportedly angered a number of lawmakers, including former Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., who publicly criticized the move.
“We don’t need a DNI with weapons. We need experts there,” said Thune.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., speaks to reporters after the Senate passed a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security at the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, April 2, 2026. The bill pays for all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection and was returned to the House. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
But Pulte’s outsider status is apparently what made Trump lean toward picking him in the first place, he explained to the Wall Street Journal.
GABBARD INTRODUCES ‘ODNI 2.0,’ WITH 40% REDUCTION PROGRAM
“You’re not tied down a bit,” he told the outlet. “It gives you more power, you know, for a limited time.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump expressed concern that Pulte would have difficulty getting confirmed by the Senate if he were to be appointed to the position permanently. He assured the public that a thorough search for a permanent replacement was ongoing and that Pulte’s interim status would benefit him.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on June 3, 2026. (Alex Brandon/AP)
“Frankly, it would be good for him to shake it up before the people come,” Trump said. “Because, if he’s downsized, with me … and with the person who comes in … he can do a tough job and we won’t have to arrest the person who comes in,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal.
TULSI GABBARD RETURNS TO OPENING CONTROVERSIAL LIVING TOOL FOLLOWING GOP LOBBYING
Pulte, who is also chairman of state-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs), has already weighed in on the effects of the law.
After six Senate Republicans joined Democrats to block a bill to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., warned that Democrats will not vote for reauthorization as long as Pulte is in charge of intelligence.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
“I don’t see how you’re going to get the Democrat votes that are needed… that’s going to get them to 60,” Warner said.
Fox News Digital contacted the offices of Leader Thune and Senator Warner and reached out to Bill Pulte for further clarification.
