June 7, 2026 / 11:08 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on June 7, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Representative Jim Himes, who joins us this morning from Greenwich, Connecticut. Welcome back to Face the Nation.REP. JIM HIMES: Good to be with you, Margaret.MARGARET BRENNAN: Congressman, President Trump appointed the Federal Housing Finance Agency head, Bill Pulte, to be the next Director of National Intelligence. The President said it is temporary, but even in that acting role, he could stay in it for over 200 days, and it would bypass Congressional approval. Pulte himself was Senate-confirmed for the housing job. Three Democrats voted for him. Do you know if he has a security clearance to do the intelligence work?REP. HIMES: Well, that's a very narrow question, Margaret. I have heard a- a senator said that he did not have a security clearance, but that's almost beside the point, right? He doesn't have an iota of national security experience, and the president is putting him in this most sensitive of roles, and you know, you pointed out that he was confirmed for the sort of obscure Federal Housing Finance Agency job. This was before he used that job to try to go after the president's political enemies, Adam Schiff and Letitia James. And so now we've got a little bit more data on Bill Pu- Bill Pulte, and the reason this is so controversial is that we know that's his distinguishing feature. He's going to do whatever it is that he believes is in the president's political interest, and there is no way that the authorities and assets of the intelligence community can be in the hands of an individual who has showed that his sole reason for being in Washington is to do the president's political laundry.MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the president did say he wants Pulte to find out more about the 2020 election. At this point, is there anything Congress can do to stop him from taking on this role?REP. HIMES: Well, you know, you haven't asked about it, but you know this Pulte nomination, which, by the way, created bipartisan outrage. You saw the public commentary from my Republican colleagues. The president did this 10 days before the expiration of our most important and also very controversial collection authority, that's FISA 702, right? I mean, I just heard Senator Warner describe it as throwing a grenade into a very, very delicate situation, and so, no, can- I mean, can Congress do anything to stop this? Not really, but the President is doubt assured through this appointment that the single most important intelligence collection tool, at a time when the Iranians are, you know, thinking about conducting operations abroad, maybe in the United States, I mean, you just could not have come up with worse timing for what is probably the worst appointment into the intelligence community I've ever seen.
