Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) on Monday publicly called on President Trump to withdraw his appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, warning that the move is on track to kill a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before the law expires.
“FISA gives us over 50 percent of our most sensitive intelligence and has enabled the U.S. to stop multiple terrorist attacks,” Bacon wrote on X Monday morning. “Letting FISA lapse would reflect a nation paralyzed by hyper-partisanship and dysfunction. POTUS can help by canceling plans to put Bill Pulte as Acting DNI.”
The break with the White House came after FISA renewal talks collapsed in the Senate last Friday. Senate Democrats have refused to advance reauthorization unless Trump pulls back the Pulte appointment, and at least one Republican senator has made clear he agrees with their position.
“I don’t think he has a prayer,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said last week, referring to any prospect of Pulte winning permanent Senate confirmation for the post.
Trump named Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting DNI earlier this month. The White House said Pulte would hold both jobs simultaneously, overseeing the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies while continuing to run FHFA and chair mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Trump has since directed Pulte to begin terminating intelligence officials. The order alarmed veteran intelligence professionals. Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired CIA officer with 26 years of service, said the appointment would “cause worry amongst IC professionals that the DNI will be fully weaponized in support of going after Trump’s political enemies, given Pulte’s track record.”
That track record became a central issue before Pulte ever arrived at the DNI. During his tenure at FHFA, Pulte used access to federal mortgage records to identify individuals viewed as political enemies of the president and referred them for potential prosecution. Critics from both parties say placing a figure with that record in charge of the intelligence apparatus raises serious concerns.
FISA authorizes foreign intelligence collection on non-U.S. persons and is considered a foundational tool for counterterrorism operations. Without reauthorization, key collection authorities lapse.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has faced private pressure from Democratic colleagues to push Trump on the withdrawal. No public statement from Thune had been issued as of Monday afternoon.
Speaking in the Oval Office last Thursday, Trump told reporters that Pulte’s acting status would actually benefit him if the White House later pursued a permanent nomination, and said a broader search for a permanent DNI is continuing.
