WASHINGTON — One of the most senior members of the United States Senate is calling President Donald Trump’s newly appointed acting director of national intelligence a national security threat — and is demanding that every senator take immediate action to remove him.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who has served in the Senate since 1993 and ranks among the chamber’s longest-serving members, took to X on June 2nd, 2026, at 12:14 p.m. to deliver one of the sharpest condemnations yet of Trump’s decision to elevate Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to the nation’s top intelligence post. Her post left no room for ambiguity.
“Bill Pulte is a proven crook who will target anyone Trump considers an enemy,” Murray wrote. “He isn’t qualified for his current job, and he would pose an actual threat to our national security as Acting Director of National Intelligence. Every Senator should demand he be fired immediately.”
Trump announced the appointment earlier Tuesday morning on Truth Social, naming Pulte — a 38-year-old heir to his family’s residential development empire and head of the FHFA — to lead the sprawling U.S. intelligence community. “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 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.” Pulte will retain his roles overseeing the FHFA and the government-backed mortgage enterprises simultaneously.
Murray’s charge that Pulte is “not qualified for his current job” — before even addressing his fitness for the intelligence post — reflects a broader Democratic argument that his tenure at the FHFA has itself been marked by the kind of politically motivated conduct that makes him uniquely dangerous as the head of an agency with access to the most powerful surveillance and intelligence tools in the world. Pulte has no background in intelligence, national security, or any related field.
The record Murray appears to be referencing is substantial. During his time at the FHFA, Pulte has used the housing finance regulator to fuel investigations into individuals perceived as enemies of the president. He made criminal referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing her of insurance fraud — a case that was eventually dismissed after a federal grand jury refused to indict her. He accused Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud as well. Courts blocked Trump’s attempt to remove Cook from her post over Pulte’s accusations, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on her case in the coming weeks.
Pulte’s conduct at the FHFA drew enough concern from Democrats on Capitol Hill that they formally requested the Government Accountability Office examine whether he had misused federal authority and resources to target Trump’s political opponents. The GAO confirmed in December it was investigating FHFA’s mortgage fraud investigation procedures, with results expected in “late 2026 or early 2027” — meaning Pulte now stands to take command of the intelligence community while that watchdog inquiry into his previous conduct remains open and unresolved.
Murray’s call for every senator to demand Pulte’s immediate removal is a notable escalation in the language coming from Capitol Hill, going beyond expressions of opposition or requests for hearings and instead framing the appointment as an emergency requiring collective action. The stance is consistent with Murray’s long record of pressing national security oversight issues. As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murray has previously joined senior Democratic leaders in demanding intelligence community briefings on military operations, including a formal letter directed to the Director of National Intelligence and other top national security officials.
Murray currently serves on four Senate committees, including the Appropriations Committee’s subcommittees on Defense and Homeland Security — giving her a direct oversight role in funding the very agencies Pulte now nominally commands. She is the fourth-most senior senator in the chamber and the second-longest serving woman ever to hold a Senate seat, having first been elected in 1992 and re-elected five times, most recently in 2022.
Murray was not alone in her opposition. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer called Pulte a “partisan thug” and said a man who files “baseless, political and outrageous charges against political office holders he doesn’t like can’t be entrusted to protect our national security.” Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — a former CIA analyst who personally helped stand up the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — posted her own opposition shortly after Murray, writing that Pulte “has weaponized his current agency against the President’s critics” and that the appointment makes him “an incredibly dangerous choice to be in charge of ODNI and have access to the tools of this office.” Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he saw “no evidence of qualifications for that job.”
Pulte replaces Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her departure from the DNI post last month effective June 30. Reuters reported she was forced from the role over frictions with the White House, though Gabbard stated she resigned because of her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis. Like Pulte, Gabbard had used the traditionally nonpartisan intelligence position to advance Trump’s political agenda, including taking a leading role in efforts to revisit the president’s unsubstantiated claims of 2020 election fraud.
The appointment arrives at one of the most consequential moments in recent American national security history. The United States remains engaged in an active war with Iran following the collapse of peace talks, while simultaneously managing Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine and mounting pressures from China’s expanding military and economic reach. As acting director, Pulte will oversee 18 intelligence agencies including the CIA and the National Security Agency, which plays a central role in foreign signals intelligence and defending the United States against cyberattacks.
Under the terms of the appointment, Pulte can serve in the acting role for up to 210 days without Senate confirmation — a window that carries well past the November midterm elections in which Republicans are working to retain their congressional majorities. Whether Trump formally nominates him beyond that period remains to be seen. Senate Republican Leader John Thune acknowledged that a permanent nomination would face a difficult path in the narrowly divided chamber, saying Pulte “has a lengthy road ahead of him” if Trump pursues confirmation.
Murray’s demand that senators of both parties act to remove Pulte sets a confrontational tone for the weeks ahead. Whether Republican colleagues heed that call remains to be seen — but with the GAO investigation into Pulte’s FHFA conduct still pending, bipartisan unease over the appointment, and an intelligence community already strained from years of restructuring and political controversy, the pressure on the White House is unlikely to quiet.