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After selecting Bill Pulte — a federal housing agency official with no experience in national security — to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), President Donald Trump and his strongest Republican allies in Congress are presenting a united front, claiming the nominee is a reformer who will be loyal to the president’s wishes.
On Thursday, the White House sent out a press release describing Pulte’s nomination as “drawing praise from lawmakers in the nation’s capital.” The release included several Republican lawmakers’ social media statements after the nomination was made earlier this week.
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana), for example, called Pulte a “patriot” who will “fight to drain the Swamp of our intel community.” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) issued a similar statement, stating he is “confident [Pulte] is the right man to drain the SWAMP in our intel community.”
The phrase “drain the swamp” is commonly attributed to Trump, who has previously used it in his campaign messaging — despite going on to make appointments and decisions in office that many have condemned as deeply corrupt.
Other lawmakers in the press statement shared by the White House sought to praise Trump rather than address Pulte’s clear lack of qualifications to become DNI. Sen. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) said Trump “has a phenomenal track record of making out of the box appointments that deliver results for the American people.”
Among Trump’s “out of the box” selections are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaxxer with no health care experience, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services; former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, who has minimal military experience and no senior experience at all, to lead the Department of Defense; and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who also lacked experience relevant to the department. Each of these picks have been deeply unpopular among the American public.
The White House is promoting Pulte as a “battle-tested reformer with deep experience safeguarding highly sensitive information.”
Other Republicans not mentioned in the statement, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), have made outlandish remarks in defense of Pulte.
“Democrats wouldn’t trust Jesus,” Johnson whined.
“The Democrats are not willing to do anything, even the most simple, basic, important responsibility to keep the American people safe, because they want to make life hard for the president,” Johnson added.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas) defended Pulte’s nomination by spreading falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the Obama and Biden administrations in a Fox Business interview.
“Maybe you should think about something else,” Crawford said, directing his comments to those doubtful of Trump’s pick. “This guy, whether anybody knows him or not, at least is not guilty of trying to orchestrate a coup against a sitting president of the United States. I would say that bodes well for him.”
While spreading baseless lies about previous Democratic administrations, Crawford disregarded the actual attempt by Trump loyalists and the Trump campaign to overturn the legitimate 2020 presidential election results.
Despite the praise from the White House, not every Republican appears fully supportive of Pulte’s nomination.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) — who just lost his primary election after Trump backed his opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) — said he has seen “no evidence” that Pulte is a qualified pick. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) made a similar observation, stating Pulte has an “absence of apparent qualifications.”
Even Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) has expressed some doubt, though not outright opposition, stating that “we need professionals” to be in the Office of the DNI.
Democrats, meanwhile, have voiced alarm about Pulte as head of the DNI, noting that his deep loyalty to Trump seems to be his only qualification. They have also pointed to Pulte’s willingness to use his current position as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to make questionable criminal referrals against Trump’s political opponents to the Justice Department.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia), ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that Pulte “would not even qualify” under the law to hold the position he’s being nominated for. Indeed, the statute governing the DNI states that the individual “shall have extensive national security expertise.”
Before his nomination, Pulte never even had security clearance granting him access to highly classified information. The Trump administration will likely seek to work around Pulte’s lack of qualifications by claiming that he has experience with sensitive information. However, even with that background, the fact that the statute requires “extensive” experience in national security matters could hamper Pulte’s nomination process.
Pulte was picked because he is “100 percent loyal to doing anything and everything President Trump demands,” Warner added.
Rep. Jim Himes, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, similarly disparaged the nominee.
“The President’s choice for Acting DNI, Bill Pulte, has quite literally no relevant experience with intelligence or national security,” a statement from Himes read. “His brief career in public service has shown only that he is willing to abuse his office to attack Donald Trump’s political enemies.”
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