Trump Ally Bill Pulte Replaces Tulsi Gabbard as Acting DNI, Sparks Bipartisan Outcry

Bill Pulte, the Trump ally who will temporarily take over the Director of National Intelligence, reportedly called outgoing Director Tulsi Gabbard Tuesday to inform her that her final day in the administration would be sooner than her announced leaving at the end of June.

“Today is your last day,” Pulte allegedly told Gabbard over the phone, two officials briefed on the matter told Axios.

Gabbard, who is leaving the administration to help her husband battle cancer, was allegedly surprised by the call and told Pulte she needed to hear the information from President Donald Trump or the White House.

After speaking with the president, Gabbard said she would leave June 19 – several days earlier than her initial resignation announcement date of June 30. Trump later posted the news on Truth Social.

Olivia Coleman, the press secretary for the Director of National Intelligence, said in a statement that Gabbard and her team are “mission-focused” and have already begun providing Pulte with briefs at Trump’s directive.

Pulte, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has zero national intelligence experience yet is temporarily taking over the Director of the National Intelligence Office despite bipartisan pushback. Democratic lawmakers have said that not only does Pulte not have the background to oversee the U.S.’s 18 intelligence agencies, but also has a proven track record of pushing Trump’s retribution agenda.

In his role, Pulte has used government housing paperwork to accuse Trump’s political enemies of engaging in criminal behavior through mortgage fraud. That includes New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns that Pulte could access sensitive intelligence information and use it to push Trump’s agenda or attack more of the president’s perceived enemies.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that Pulte could cause damage to voter integrity well beyond his term by elevating the president’s unfounded claims of mass voter fraud.

Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, predicted Pulte would “do whatever” to “do the president’s political laundry” and called his temporary appointment “the worst and probably most dangerous” of the administration.

Already, Trump has said that Pulte will downsize the national intelligence workforce and flexed Pulte’s status as acting director as an asset to fulfill more of Trump’s agenda.

Members of Congress have pushed back on Trump’s decision to appoint Pulte as acting director by refusing to vote to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires Friday.

The day Pulte allegedly called Gabbard, the president was meeting with top advisers about how to handle the dispute with Congress. Ultimately, members of the House voted against a short-term extension of the act Thursday in rebellion over Putle’s appointment.