Trump's pick for intel chief could imperil a key U.S. spy tool. Who is Bill Pulte?

Bill Pulte testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on February 27, 2025. President Trump has picked Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images hide caption

When President Trump named Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence last week, it threw a grenade into the middle of delicate congressional negotiations around one of the nation's key spy powers.

Pulte, the 38 year-old director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is best known for his role as a partisan attack dog for the president. He was a prominent advocate for Trump's push to fire then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and used his sizable social media following to push for mortgage fraud investigations into Trump's perceived enemies.

As director of national intelligence, Pulte would oversee the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus. That includes the collection of hundreds of thousands of foreigners' electronic communications under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act , one of the nation's most important surveillance tools.

On Capitol Hill, where months-long negotiations over the renewal of the FISA 702 program appeared close to an end, Pulte's appointment came as a surprise to the lawmakers involved in the deliberations.

The Senate was moving toward a robust three-year extension ahead of the law's Friday expiration after two prior short-term extensions. Then Trump's Truth Social post dramatically changed the context of the talks.

"I am appointing the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, William J. Pulte, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence," Trump wrote. "William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America."

The announcement was met with confusion and dismay on Capitol Hill. Many Democrats, concerned that Pulte has no national security sector experience and a history of weaponizing his role, made clear they would not support extending FISA section 702 with him in the role.