Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday called the appointment to make Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) head Bill Pulte the acting director of national intelligence the “worst and most dangerous” appointment made by President Trump.
Himes is among several bipartisan lawmakers who have slammed Trump’s appointment, saying Pulte is not qualified for the job and has weaponized his role as head of FHFA to go after the president’s political opponents.
He told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on CBS News that there is “no way” that the intelligence community will be “in the hands of an individual who has shown that his sole reason for being in Washington is to do the president’s political laundry.”
“The president needs to sober up,” Himes said, adding that tapping Pulte — of the “basket of awful appointments” Trump has made — “is probably the worst and most dangerous.”
“So, I hope he can find a way out, because you’re right. He doesn’t like to back down, but he’s also not going to like the terrorist attacks that might happen if there is no 702 collection authority,” Himes said, referring to negotiations to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a critical spy tool set to expire on June 12.
Senate Democrats, including at least seven GOP senators, on Friday blocked a motion to begin debate on extending the nation’s enhanced surveillance authorities in protest of Pulte’s appointment. Himes said that support for extending FISA in the House has lost Democratic support in response to the appointment.
“I will tell you that at least half of those Democrats are gone, because they will say, ‘Look, I wasn’t very comfortable with this authority to begin with, and we don’t need to get into why it’s controversial, but it is controversial,’” Himes said. “But with Bill Pulte, who is absolutely dedicated to abusing authorities –– no, I’m not there.”
Trump has said that Pulte will not be in the role permanently while praising what he can accomplish in the role.
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The office of the director of national intelligence oversees the constellation of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, but it’s unclear what power Pulte would have to carry out firings at other agencies, such as the CIA.
Pulte’s tenure to lead in an acting capacity is limited to 210 days.
