Trump sticks with Pulte for intel job as risk grows of lapse in spy
powers
[June 11, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, LISA MASCARO and SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lapse in a law that allows the U.S. to gather
intelligence abroad grew more likely on Wednesday as President Donald
Trump resisted calls from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill to
immediately name a permanent head of the nation's intelligence agencies.
Trump has doubled down on his temporary pick for director of national
intelligence, federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte, even though
he has little experience for the job. Democrats say they won't support
the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,
known as FISA, unless he withdraws Pulte's appointment and nominates a
permanent replacement.
The impasse could soon result in limitations on what intelligence the
U.S. government can collect abroad just as World Cup games begin in
cities around the country and ahead of celebrations for the nation’s
250th anniversary. The law expires on Friday at midnight.
Trump on Wednesday asked Congress for a short-term extension of the law
to “provide time for the selection and confirmation" of a permanent
director.” But he stuck with Pulte as the acting head and said he wants
to begin downsizing intelligence agencies.
“We can't let them extort us,” Trump said of Democrats.
Senate Republicans floated an short-term extension of the law after
Trump's request, but it was immediately rejected by Democrats who argued
that it's up to the president to replace Pulte.
As the bill stalled in the Senate, Speaker Mike Johnson announced the
House would hold a vote Thursday on a stopgap to keep the program
running through July 2 even as the chances of passage appeared slim.
“We’re going to ask every member here to do the right thing,” Johnson
said. “We cannot allow that to go dark.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said if Trump wants a shot at a
short-term extension, he needs to pull the Pulte appointment. Pulte is a
“disgraceful individual” and a “partisan political hack" who is deeply
unqualified for the job, Jeffries said.
GOP leaders lobby the White House, to no avail
Congressional Republicans have lobbied Trump all week to quickly
nominate a permanent replacement. But he said he needs more time to do
so.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday that
Republican leaders have “made our views known” to the White House about
the easiest way to get the bill passed, and “we’re just doing what we
can here to ensure that the White House understands what will be
necessary in order to make that happen.”
Trump said on Friday that he is interviewing five candidates for his
pick to lead the agency permanently and that all have a national
security background.
“It’s an important position and one that I think will be filled by a
highly qualified person,” said Johnson, who met with Trump twice this
week to talk about the FISA impasse.
Trump made it very clear, Johnson said, that Pulte will serve a “very
short term — a sort of renovation role” to help the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence be “renovated and downsized.”
To unlock votes for FISA, the pick would have to be soon — and Trump's
choice would have to satisfy both Republicans and Democrats.
One of several possible replacements could be Pete Hoekstra, Trump’s
ambassador to Canada and a former chairman of the House Intelligence
Committee. The White House has reached out to Hoekstra about the job and
conversations are ongoing, according to a person familiar with the
outreach who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
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Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte speaks
with reporters at the White House, Sept. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FISA will lapse at midnight Friday
Section 702 of FISA allows agencies such as the CIA, National
Security Agency and FBI to collect communications from foreign
targets overseas without a warrant.
While members of both parties who cite privacy issues have long
wanted to limit the authority, there was broad bipartisan support to
renew it, especially after Republicans and Democrats recently worked
out a compromise bill.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate
Intelligence Committee, has worked with Republicans on the
compromise legislation to renew the authority. But he called Pulte’s
appointment to replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard “a live hand
grenade” as they were trying to pass it. Republican leaders tried to
start the process last week, but seven Republicans joined nearly all
Democrats in blocking a long-term extension after Pulte was
appointed. (
Warner said Wednesday that the only way he’ll support a short-term
extension of the surveillance law is if the principal deputy
director of national intelligence, Aaron Lukas, is the acting leader
during the duration of that extension.
Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee,
and Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
have warned the administration that the spy tool is likely to lapse.
The administration should prepare “for a potential significant gap
in foreign intelligence collection,” they wrote in a letter.
Trump doesn't back down on Pulte
After bipartisan pushback to Pulte’s temporary appointment, Trump
said last week that he would not permanently nominate him to the
position. But Democrats, and some Republicans, want his appointment
pulled immediately and for Trump to nominate a replacement that can
be confirmed by the Senate.
On Tuesday, though, Trump announced that Pulte would not only take
over as acting director — he'd also start earlier than expected, on
June 19.
And he stuck with Pulte on Wednesday, posting that he needed more
time to find a permanent replacement and telling reporters that the
agencies need to be downsized.
Both Republican and Democratic senators skeptical of Pulte have
pointed to his lack of intelligence experience and also his record
at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In the position, the Trump
loyalist has been linked with criminal referrals over allegations of
mortgage fraud by public officials Trump sought to punish, including
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam
Schiff, D-Calif.; and Lisa Cook, a board member of the Federal
Reserve.
___
Associated Press reporters Joey Cappelletti and Kevin Freking
contributed to this report.
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