A man who built his career investigating the mortgages of political enemies now controls America's spy agencies.

"That is how intelligence becomes politicized, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it, and how Americans are left more vulnerable to a terrorist attack."

— Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Bill Pulte, the 38-year-old director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would serve as acting director of national intelligence. The appointment puts a political loyalist with zero demonstrated experience in national security at the head of the CIA, NSA, and all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. It comes while the United States is actively at war with Iran, fresh peace talks have stalled, and military strikes are resuming.

Pulte earned Trump's trust not by analyzing foreign threats but by identifying mortgage records belonging to the president's perceived enemies and sending them to the Justice Department for investigation. New York Attorney General Letitia James. Rep. Adam Schiff. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Rep. Eric Swalwell. All were referred by Pulte on mortgage fraud allegations, most of which went nowhere. The charges against James were thrown out by a federal judge. A grand jury refused to indict her a second time. The probe into Schiff stalled. Swalwell sued and then dropped his case in March.

Translation: the person now running America's intelligence apparatus got promoted because he was good at using government databases to hunt down Democrats.

Pulte is the grandson of William J. Pulte, the billionaire founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup. He was confirmed to lead the FHFA in March 2025 with support from three Democrats who joined Republicans on his nomination: Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). None of them could have anticipated what they were enabling.

In a Truth Social post announcing the appointment, Trump cited Pulte's "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." He said Pulte would keep his current roles as FHFA director and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while serving as acting spy chief.

The director of national intelligence is a Cabinet-level position created after September 11, 2001. By law, it requires "extensive" experience in the intelligence community. The Senate must confirm anyone named to the role permanently. But Trump's appointment of Pulte as an acting director sidesteps both requirements entirely.

Ned Price, a former U.S. intelligence official under President Joe Biden, put it bluntly: "The biggest news isn't that Trump is appointing someone without a national security background to a position that, by law, requires 'extensive' experience. It's that Pulte earned Trump's trust by using mortgage records to pursue perceived political enemies. Now this top henchman will have access to some of our most sensitive intelligence and exquisite capabilities."

The White House press briefing that followed was a masterclass in evasion. With Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on maternity leave, it fell to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the CMS administrator, to field questions about the appointment.

"I think Bill is a great guy. I know him socially," Oz said when asked about Pulte's qualifications. "I have not worked with him in his current job, but I do trust the president's judgment."

When a reporter asked whether he would recommend a patient see someone who was not a heart doctor, Oz deflected: "You're asking the question with the premise that Bill Pulte is not qualified. I don't know anything about his situation."

Vice President JD Vance offered a more substantive defense on X, writing that Pulte will do "great" because he "recognizes that the bureaucracy of the intel community must respond to the elected leadership (rather than the other way around)."

That would be true if the person in charge had any understanding of what the intelligence community actually does.

Even Trump's own allies are unsettled. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins both expressed surprise at the appointment. "I'm not familiar that there is anything in his background that would qualify him as one who would be the head of our national intelligence," Murkowski said. "I know what he has been doing in the housing sector. I'm not so familiar with why the president would have selected him."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters he had just heard about the decision and was seeking more information.

The animosity toward Pulte inside the administration runs deeper than professional disagreement. According to The Daily Beast, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly threatened physical violence against Pulte during a dinner at Don Jr.'s exclusive club in Washington, D.C., after learning that Pulte had been bad-mouthing him to Trump. "Why the f--- are you talking to the president about me? F--- you," Bessent was quoted as saying. "I'm gonna punch you in your f------g face."

A former Trump official offered a different kind of response when asked about Pulte's qualifications: "Building homes is very similar to managing a 17-agency US intelligence community."

Pulte replaces Tulsi Gabbard, who announced at the end of May that she would step down effective June 30 to care for her husband, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Gabbard's tenure as DNI was defined by her isolationist tendencies and clashes with Trump over military actions in Iran and Venezuela. She was routinely sidelined from major foreign policy decisions and spent much of her time targeting individuals she believed were part of the so-called deep state.

Her deputy, Aaron Lukas, a former CIA officer, was initially named to serve as acting DNI following Gabbard's resignation announcement. Trump instead chose Pulte.

This is not the first time Trump has put an unqualified loyalist in this role. During his first term, he appointed Richard Grenell, then ambassador to Germany, as acting DNI despite Grenell's minimal intelligence experience. A former White House official told CNN at the time that Trump was "looking for a 'political' who will have his back."

The pattern is clear. Trump does not want an intelligence chief who will deliver independent assessments. He wants one who will confirm what he already believes and help him target whoever crosses him.

The Government Accountability Office has opened its own investigation into Pulte over possible misuse of authority in his mortgage fraud referrals. A federal grand jury is reportedly investigating the handling of the Schiff probe. House Democrats asked an inspector general to examine Pulte's allegations against Lisa Cook.

None of that stopped Trump from handing Pulte the keys to America's spy agencies.

The question is not whether Pulte can do the job. The question is what happens when the person running your intelligence community treats it as a weapon rather than a shield.