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 \u201cworst and most dangerous\u201d appointment made by President Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Himes is among several bipartisan lawmakers who have slammed Trump\u2019s appointment, saying Pulte is not qualified for the job and has weaponized his role as head of FHFA to go after the president\u2019s political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He told \u201cFace the Nation\u201d host Margaret Brennan on CBS News that there is \u201cno way\u201d that the intelligence community will be \u201cin the hands of an individual who has shown that his sole reason for being in Washington is to do the president\u2019s political laundry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe president needs to sober up,\u201d Himes said, adding that tapping Pulte \u2014 of the \u201cbasket of awful appointments\u201d Trump has made \u2014 \u201cis probably the worst and most dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, I hope he can find a way out, because you\u2019re right. He doesn\u2019t like to back down, but he\u2019s also not going to like the terrorist attacks that might happen if there is no 702 collection authority,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Democrats, including at least seven GOP senators, on Friday blocked a motion to begin debate on extending the nation\u2019s enhanced surveillance authorities in protest of Pulte\u2019s appointment. Himes said that support for extending FISA in the House has lost Democratic support in response to the appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will tell you that at least half of those Democrats are gone, because they will say, \u2018Look, I wasn\u2019t very comfortable with this authority to begin with, and we don\u2019t need to get into why it\u2019s controversial, but it is controversial,’\u201d Himes said. \u201cBut with Bill Pulte, who is absolutely dedicated to abusing authorities \u2013\u2013 no, I\u2019m not there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has said that Pulte will not be in the role permanently while praising what he can accomplish in the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn\u2019t be there,\u201d Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The office of the director of national intelligence oversees the constellation of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, but it\u2019s unclear what power Pulte would have to carry out firings at other agencies, such as the CIA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pulte\u2019s tenure to lead in an acting capacity is limited to 210 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n