Trump doubles down on Pulte for DNI, calls for short-term extension of foreign surveillance law

President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his choice of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, despite bipartisan pushback on the pick that could result in the lapse this week of a foreign surveillance program with major national security implications.

Earlier this month Trump tapped Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has used his perch to launch a series of probes into several of the president's political opponents over allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing.

The move drew swift criticism from both sides of the aisle and calls for Trump to ditch his choice of Pulte or quickly find a permanent replacement for the role. It also increased the odds that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans, would expire at the end of the week as Democrats vowed to withhold their support.

"This is not my side's fault. Frankly it's not the Republican senators' fault," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters Wednesday. "This administration, this president owns it if 702 goes dark, by throwing a live hand grenade into a controversial bill that was on a path to three years of reauthorization."

"I can't think of a more incompetent, unqualified, dangerous person to make acting DNI," Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said on Capitol Hill about Pulte.

But Trump was apparently unfazed, attacking Democrats in a post on TruthSocial and calling for a short-term extension of the program.

"Just like they did on Border Funding, the Radical Left Dumocrats are trying to take our National Security hostage because of unrelated issues. They should stop playing politics with the safety of our Great Country," Trump posted Wednesday.

In the post, Trump said he is looking for a permanent DNI nominee, but in the meantime Pulte would take over on June 19. Trump said he'd asked Pulte "to execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies."

Senate leaders in both parties on Wednesday were floating the idea of another short-term extension. The proposal would extend the program through July 2, MS NOW reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The FISA program has critics on both sides of the aisle, who worry it could lead to the surveillance of U.S. citizens. Proponents, meanwhile, argue it's a crucial national security tool that is all the more important as the U.S. conflict in Iran continues and the FIFA Men's World Cup kicks off this week with games in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

"FISA 702 is very important to our Military, and keeping the American People safe, especially during the World Cup and America250 Celebrations," Trump wrote in the Wednesday post. "If nothing is done, this important Law will expire this week. I am asking Congress to send me a short-term extension of FISA to provide time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent Head of the Agency. I would like to thank Director Pulte for his time and commitment."

Trump has called for a clean extension of the program, while many in Congress want restrictions on the law's warrantless surveillance provisions.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said passage without added language on warrants would be "very tough."

"If you don't have a search warrant ... I think it's gonna be problematic for a lot of people," Burchett said.
"President Trump is the master of the deal, so we'll just see what he puts on the table and how he works it out, but right now I don't think it's got a got a very good shot."

The Senate had been working toward a three-year extension of the program, but last week after the Pulte announcement, seven Republicans joined most Democrats to defeat a procedural motion that would have set up a vote on final passage of the FISA bill this week. Previous attempts this spring to pass multi-year extensions also fizzled, resulting in a 45-day extension that was signed into law in April.

Without congressional intervention, the program will expire June 12. Warner said he was continuing to work with Senate intelligence Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on a solution. But he wasn't sure there would be the votes for a short-term patch.

Republicans, too, have publicly questioned Trump's choice of Pulte.

"We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Capitol Hill last week.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring at the end of this Congress and has regularly taken aim at Trump administration officials, called Pulte an "incendiary attack dog," in an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" last week.

And Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is also retiring at the end of his term, called on Trump to rethink his pick in a post to X on Monday.

"FISA gives us over 50% of our most sensitive intelligence and has enabled the U.S. to stop multiple terrorist attacks," Bacon wrote. "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."

—Emily Wilkins and Irit Skulnik contributed to this story.