Senate Republicans are openly breaking with President Donald Trump over his pick for the nation’s top spy job.
Trump this week nominated Bill Pulte, the 38-year-old grandson of homebuilding billionaire William J. Pulte and current director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). “William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac,” Trump said in announcing the acting position on Tuesday.
It comes after Gabbard announced last month she would step down effective June 30 to care for her husband, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
The backlash was swift and not restricted to just Democrats. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who leads Trump’s own party in the chamber, was unsparing. “We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there,” he said. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was equally blunt, saying that “anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote.”
Senator John Cornyn of Texas said, “I don’t see any evidence of qualifications for that job, but I’m willing to listen.”
The stakes extend well beyond a bruising confirmation fight. Democrats are threatening to let the government’s surveillance powers lapse unless Trump pulls the nomination.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Section 702—which authorizes key intelligence-gathering programs—expires June 12, and Republicans need at least eight Democratic votes in the Senate to renew it. As DNI, Pulte would play a central role in overseeing the program.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the pick floored him. “I thought I had gotten to the stage where I could no longer be shocked by Donald Trump’s choices,” he told MSNBC, “but this may be the most outrageous of all.” Warner is now pressing Thune to urge the White House to drop Pulte entirely.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the nomination had cast fresh doubt on the surveillance renewal. “The timing of this announcement could not be worse,” he said. “With just over a week until FISA Section 702’s authorities expire, this announcement and its timing clearly make passing an extension of FISA much harder.”
At a Senate hearing, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent whether he had threatened to punch Pulte in the face, as a journalist reported last year. “No sir, I actually said I was going to kick his a--,” Bessent replied. “Good,” Tillis said. “I share the emotion.” Tillis added that Pulte is “not fit” to be DNI.
Into this chaos, a resurfaced video featuring Pulte landed. Shot at a 2023 live event he co-hosted, it shows him seated next to a large green sex toy that his co-host had used to slap a participant on stage. “Here is the first-ever live dildo slap on the PPLive,” the co-host announced. “Pulte, look at this f---ing thing!” Pulte was later presented with a novelty trophy reading “Bill Pulte F---s” on one side and “Only the Young” on the other. “That looks pretty badass,” Pulte said as he accepted it.
The White House, for its part, is standing firm. “Bill Pulte is a great selection, and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people,” spokesman Davis Ingle said, calling Democratic efforts to link the nomination to the FISA vote “shameful.”
The administration abandoned its controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to smooth things over with Senate Republicans, but the Pulte nomination has created fresh turmoil.
