President Donald Trump on Tuesday named Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, adding oversight of the U.S. intelligence community to Pulte's existing responsibilities at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Pulte, 38 years old, will remain FHFA director and continue serving as chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while taking on the new intelligence role. He does not have a background in national security, a detail noted in announcements of the appointment.
Trump made the appointment public on his Truth Social platform, posting that Pulte "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, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago." The post framed Pulte's housing finance experience as a qualification for the intelligence position.
Context of the vacancy
The intelligence director post became available after Tulsi Gabbard, the first person Trump named to the position, said in May that she would step down. Gabbard cited her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis as the reason for leaving the role.
What is known and what remains limited
The announcement confirms that Pulte will hold both the housing finance leadership roles and the acting intelligence directorship concurrently. Beyond the details released in the president's public statement and the confirmation of Gabbard's earlier departure for family health reasons, there has been no additional information provided about how Pulte will divide his time between the FHFA, the government-sponsored enterprises, and the intelligence community, or about how his lack of prior national security experience will be addressed in practice.
This appointment places a housing finance regulator at the head of the intelligence community on an acting basis while he continues his existing duties overseeing major mortgage institutions.