Two U.S. lawmakers who handle sensitive national security issues warned that President Donald Trump’s decision to install Bill Pulte as his acting director of national intelligence could block Congress from renewing an expiring foreign surveillance law this week.
The Senate and the House face a Friday deadline to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a provision that permits U.S. intelligence agencies to surveil emails and other communications of foreigners outside the United States without obtaining individual judicial warrants.
Trump tapped Pulte - who has no background in national security - to take over as acting director of national intelligence. The appointment will become effective when Tulsi Gabbard resigns on June 30. Pulte would continue to hold his current role as head of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency while serving temporarily as the nation’s chief intelligence adviser.
The move provoked sharp criticism from members of both parties on Capitol Hill, who cited Pulte’s lack of experience in intelligence matters. Democrats additionally accused him of using his housing finance position to attack those whom President Trump views as political opponents.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the appointment amounted to throwing a "live hand grenade" into congressional deliberations just days before Section 702 is due to lapse. Warner made the remark on ABC’s "This Week" program.
On Friday the Senate blocked a motion to begin debate on the FISA renewal. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters that another attempt to start debate would be made this week. Any successful bill would require Democratic backing to clear the Senate, and Democrats have signaled they will not support reauthorization if the Pulte appointment remains in place.
President Trump said on Thursday he did not expect to nominate Pulte for the permanent director role, but under the rules Pulte may serve as acting director for up to 210 days without Senate confirmation.
In the House, Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CBS’ "Face the Nation" that the timing of the appointment imperils the reauthorization effort. "You just could not have come up with worse timing," Himes said. He added, "If we had to pass another bill in the context of Bill Pulte, I don’t think we could."
Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also questioned Pulte’s qualifications. Speaking on ABC, McCaul said, "I don’t believe he’s statutorily qualified" given his lack of experience. Still, McCaul cautioned that failing to renew Section 702 immediately could be deeply irresponsible, noting the timing ahead of major international events. He called it "the most grossly irresponsible thing I’ve seen Congress do in my 22 years in office" if lawmakers failed to act just before the FIFA World Cup games in North America and during weeks of commemorations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Some Republicans expressed that Pulte is only a temporary measure. Senator Dave McCormick said the president could rely on other senior officials for intelligence guidance, citing CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also acting as Trump’s national security adviser. "Bill Pulte is going to be a temporary fix until we get the right qualified person in there permanently," McCormick said on Fox News’ "Sunday Briefing."
Before Pulte’s selection, lawmakers in both chambers had been moving toward passage of a compromise FISA reauthorization after extended negotiations. The appointment of Pulte, however, has altered that dynamic, and even some Republican senators say the renewal could be delayed.
On Friday, Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Grassley sent a letter to the president’s national security adviser, Marco Rubio, that warned of a possible interruption in foreign intelligence collection. The letter states, "We write with regret to ask that you plan for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection." In the letter, Cotton and Grassley blamed the situation on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. That development was reported by Punchbowl.
Representative Himes said the letter was tantamount to admitting that Pulte’s appointment is the reason Section 702 reauthorization has become unattainable in the near term. "I think at one level they’re acknowledging reality, which is that the Pulte appointment has taken 702 reauthorization off the table," Himes told CBS.
The unfolding dispute leaves a narrow window for Congress to act and highlights both the procedural constraints around acting appointments and the political leverage parties can wield in closely contested national security debates. With the Friday deadline approaching, negotiators and leaders must weigh whether to press ahead with another attempt at debate or to seek other steps that could preserve intelligence collection authority while the standoff persists.