Bill Pulte is back in line to become acting director of national intelligence (DNI) on Friday, after President Donald Trump delayed the confirmation of his permanent nominee for the role, Jay Clayton.
Trump, in a social media post early Wednesday, said Clayton’s confirmation would be delayed until his choice for Clayton’s successor as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, James McDonald, is confirmed.
Trump was asked how long Pulte would be in the role while sitting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. Pulte shared a video of the meeting on his X account.
“And why are they afraid of this guy? I mean, they’re so afraid of him, they’ll do anything not to have Pulte go in there,” Trump said. “He’s a very capable guy, and they’re worried about that.”
Pulte, who serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and chairman of its regulated entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is a former private equity CEO with no reported national security experience. After bipartisan pushback to the president’s selection of Pulte as acting DNI, Trump tapped Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, as his formal nominee.
Clayton had been fast-tracked to have his confirmation completed before Pulte became acting director, but that plan has now been stalled, it seems, until McDonald is approved.
“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote on social media. “Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”
The delay means Pulte will take on the role of the nation’s top intelligence official on Friday.
Lawmakers took to the Senate floor and to social media to blast the president’s postponement. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Trump was “holding our national security hostage.” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., commented that “Bill Pulte, who is fundamentally unqualified for the job, is about to be in charge of our intelligence and that only makes Americans less safe.”
Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote on social media that Trump’s postponement is “an extraordinary display of dysfunction from a president who seems determined to turn America’s national security into a political bargaining chip.”
Pulte is expected to retain his position as head of the FHFA, as well as his board positions at Fannie and Freddie, the government-sponsored mortgage giants.
