On June 2, 2026, President Trump named Bill Pulte, 38, the acting Director of National Intelligence, putting the heir to the PulteGroup homebuilding fortune in charge of overseeing the U.S. intelligence community despite no intelligence experience. Pulte will keep his existing job as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while serving as Acting DNI.
Trump announced the move on Truth Social, claiming Pulte has “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets,” and citing the roughly $10 trillion Pulte oversees at the two mortgage giants as his qualification. The appointment followed the resignation of DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
As FHFA director, Pulte had publicly demanded criminal mortgage-fraud investigations of several of Trump's perceived enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Installing him atop the intelligence agencies places a figure who has already used a financial-regulatory post to pursue the president's opponents in charge of the nation's intelligence product. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, “This president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president's wishes.” Even Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) objected: “We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Pulte “deeply unqualified to lead U.S. intelligence efforts.”
The purge began quickly. After taking over from Tulsi Gabbard on June 19 and arriving a day early to demand a list of every ODNI employee, Pulte started firings on June 22, 2026, moving to cut hundreds of jobs and revert staff to their home agencies, including a directive to assemble a list of 300 employees to fire from the roughly 1,000 at the National Counterterrorism Center. Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes wrote to Pulte that they were “concerned by reports that you intend to fire or place on leave hundreds of” ODNI officers “as soon as this week.”
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