All articles tagged with #intelligence community
Trump’s acting DNI Bill Pulte arrived a day early and reportedly wants a full ODNI staff list to gauge who to fire, with talk of hundreds of job cuts; he lacks security clearance and intelligence experience, has pressed for PDB access and a government plane, and will remain FHFA director while serving as acting DNI as Jay Clayton’s nomination stalls, drawing bipartisan concerns about his fitness and loyalties.
With the expiration of Section 702 looming, U.S. intelligence agencies could face legal uncertainty and disrupted data collection if Congress fails to renew the FISA authority; although the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court re-certified Section 702 through 2027, the underlying statutory renewal is critical to keep programs running, even as Democrats link extension to changes and Trump's nomination of Bill Pulte as acting DNI fuels partisan tensions; a short-term House extension to July 2 is likely to fail, leaving national security tools at risk as lawmakers debate reforms and leadership.
An investigative piece traces two generations of Bill Pulte’s family to The Family (a secretive Fellowship Foundation) and its global political network, noting a close relationship between his grandfather and Doug Coe and extensive Michigan ties. It finds no public evidence of direct links from Bill Pulte himself to The Family, but argues the network’s influence—through philanthropy, religious charities, and political circles—could be relevant as he steps into a top role in overseeing the U.S. intelligence community.
President Trump said he wants Bill Pulte, his acting director of national intelligence, to shrink the DNI by firing personnel, with the eventual permanent director to continue the downsizing; the plan follows prior reductions and has drawn bipartisan scrutiny as Pulte’s nomination remains unsettled.
Trump said he wants incoming acting DNI Bill Pulte to begin trimming the DNI office’s staff as part of a broader shake-up, with five interviews ongoing for a permanent DNI. Pulte, the current FHFA director with no intelligence background, will serve as acting DNI until a permanent pick is confirmed, as Trump seeks to shrink the intelligence apparatus and lean on holdovers from prior administrations.
Bill Pulte, Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community as acting DNI, reportedly did not have any security clearance before his appointment, and a background check has begun; lawmakers from both parties warn that granting him access to classified information without thorough vetting risks sensitive secrets and could complicate intelligence-sharing.
President Trump named Bill Pulte—head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency—as acting Director of National Intelligence, a move greeted by MAGA supporters as a rebuke to the Deep State but provoking alarm among Democrats and IC veterans about his lack of intelligence experience and the potential politicization of the DNI, with a 210-day acting tenure under the Vacancies Act and an uncertain path to Senate confirmation.
President Trump named Bill Pulte, a wealthy housing-finance official with no intelligence background, as acting director of national intelligence, signaling a loyalty-first, move-fast approach to election security; Pulte has previously used his FHFA role to push referrals against Trump opponents, raising questions about qualifications and potential political influence over intelligence and declassification ahead of the midterms; the appointment follows a pattern of installing loyalists, with Lukas slated to become acting DNI after Gabbard’s departure.
Tulsi Gabbard resigns as the US director of national intelligence, effective June 30, citing her husband’s bone cancer diagnosis and a desire to support him. Aaron Lukas will serve as acting DNI. Trump called her service outstanding, and Gabbard, a Trump ally, led coordination across intelligence agencies as US actions continued in Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Amid a China summit and rising AI competition, the Trump administration is split over shifting AI model testing to the intelligence community, proposing a large ODNI center to vet models while Commerce argues for its own voluntary testing program, fueling a broader fight over mandatory versus voluntary oversight and signaling potential executive action on AI security.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the DOJ regarding a former intelligence community inspector general and a whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger Trump’s 2019 impeachment, renewing scrutiny of the case.
POLITICO reports that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is finalizing a plan to make In-Q-Tel, the CIA-backed venture fund, overseen by ODNI under Tulsi Gabbard. If approved, the shift would move oversight from the CIA to Gabbard’s ODNI, potentially triggering opposition from CIA leaders and some lawmakers while garnering support for tighter cross-agency tech development; passage would require congressional backing amid mixed views on ODNI’s role and Gabbard’s influence.
The Bulwark's Will Saletan argues that Tulsi Gabbard, appointed by Donald Trump as director of national intelligence, has shifted from evidence-based threat assessment to claiming only the president can declare imminent threats, contrasting her past cautions on North Korea and the Soleimani strike with a 2025 stance that aligned with Trump’s Iran-war narrative and her later public acquiescence to presidential decision-making, a move the piece frames as a step toward autocracy.
Tulsi Gabbard testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the Iran war, largely toeing the White House’s line while avoiding a direct endorsement, as Democrats pressed on whether Iran posed an imminent threat and questioned inconsistencies between her statements and prior writings; the hearing also touched on her ties to an aide who resigned over the operation and broader intelligence warnings regarding elections and national security.
At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Tulsi Gabbard said only the president can determine what counts as an imminent threat, arguing that the intelligence community provides inputs rather than deciding threats; the exchange occurs amid U.S. action on Iran and broader debates sparked by Joe Kent’s resignation.