Republican backlash intensifies over Trump spy chief pick

WASHINGTON - Two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members on Wednesday distanced themselves from his pick of loyalist Bill Pulte to serve as acting U.S. spy chief, as Republican lawmakers criticized his lack of national security experience.

The unusual pushback from members of Trump’s own party highlighted concerns about his decision to appoint a mortgage regulator with no national security experience to oversee the nation’s sprawling intelligence apparatus.

Testifying in separate congressional hearings, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not defend Trump’s decision. Bessent clarified that he had not threatened to punch Pulte in the face during a confrontation last year.

“I actually said I was going to kick his ass,” Bessent told lawmakers.

Several Republican senators said they would not support Pulte if Trump nominated him to serve permanently as director of national intelligence. With a narrow 53-47 majority, Trump’s Republicans can afford few defections to approve his nominees.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said the law that created the job required nominees with extensive national security experience.

“No nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote,” he said in a statement.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis likewise said he would not support Pulte’s nomination.

The unusual pushback comes as Trump’s grip is loosening on Capitol Hill.

Republican lawmakers this week refused to fund his White House ballroom and forced him to shelve a fund that would have distributed $1.8 billion to alleged victims of government “weaponization,” including those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Pulte, an heir to the residential development firm PulteGroup, has used his position as head of a low-profile mortgage regulator to push for fraud investigations of several of Trump’s perceived foes, though none have resulted in criminal charges. 

Pulte had no national security experience before Trump said he would replace Tulsi Gabbard when her tenure ends on June 30. The interim appointment would last 210 days. 

That is seen as an asset by some of Trump’s supporters.

“He is independent from the CIA and from other corrupt and politicized elements within our intelligence community. Bill Pulte is committed to exposing the truth to the American people, and is 100% loyal to the president of the United States,” Roger Stone, a political operative who has worked on and off with Trump for decades, told Reuters.

The DNI oversees the 18 intelligence agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency.

Pulte’s appointment comes as the U.S. is embroiled in a war with Iran and confronting other foreign policy challenges, including Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s growing military and financial clout.

Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was asked if he knew of Pulte’s name “in the context of the intelligence community.”

“In the context of intelligence?” Rubio said. “No.”

Bessent told the Senate Banking Committee that his personal differences with Pulte would not affect their work.

“Many teams squabble in the locker room and go out on the field,” he said.

Senate Democrats are threatening to block an extension of a controversial spy powers law if the White House refuses to withdraw Pulte’s appointment.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee and a key vote on the extension, warned Majority Leader John Thune of the potential revolt, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Warner said he worried Pulte would use his access to top-secret intelligence to target Trump’s perceived enemies, as he said he has done with mortgage data. 

“He has weaponized mortgage information,” said Warner. “He’s going to suddenly be given the keys to the most classified secrets that keep our country safe.”

Warner and Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton have been working for months to get a bipartisan deal to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before it expires on June 12. Pulte’s appointment “doesn’t help” the deal, Warner said Tuesday. The Virginia Democrat’s warning to Thune was earlier reported by Punchbowl.

FISA Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect foreign nationals’ communications overseas. It has drawn criticism from privacy advocates on both the left and the right who argue that it facilitates warrantless surveillance of Americans in contact with foreigners. Warner is critical to getting Democrats on board with an extension, which Republicans cannot pass on their own.

Speaker Mike Johnson blasted Democrats for attempting to hold FISA hostage over Pulte, saying they were “playing political games.” Asked about Pulte’s qualifications, Johnson said Trump has every right to make interim appointments.

Reuters reporters Simon Lewis and Doina Chiacu and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.