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Bill Pulte’s two-month stint as acting director of national intelligence concludes Monday when Jay Clayton formally assumes control of the intelligence community, the housing regulator announced Saturday via social media. Pulte confirmed he had coordinated the transition with both President Donald Trump and Clayton, who won Senate confirmation earlier in the week.
Trump initially selected Pulte to lead the intelligence agency after Tulsi Gabbard stepped down from the position. The appointment drew criticism from Republican senators who questioned whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency head possessed adequate national security expertise for the role.
Clayton, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and ex-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, secured confirmation along party lines on Tuesday. Senate Republicans had sought to confirm him in June, though Trump postponed the hearing schedule.
During his brief tenure, Pulte’s leadership coincided with Trump’s White House speech reasserting debunked claims about the 2020 election and the release of classified documents the president contended supported his arguments. Pulte also disclosed intelligence community assessments from 2020 detailing China’s election interference capabilities and U.S. election system weaknesses before Clayton’s confirmation vote.
Clayton previously lost bipartisan support after refusing to acknowledge during his confirmation hearing that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. The White House has not disclosed details regarding Clayton’s swearing-in date.
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