Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House, signaled on Monday that Democrats would not vote to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) if Bill Pulte is allowed to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence. But some Democrats are worried that getting rid of Pulte doesn’t fix the major problems with FISA, a controversial spying law that can be used against Americans, which will expire later this week if it’s not reauthorized by Congress. “There were already challenges when it came to extending foreign surveillance authority, given the refusal by the Trump administration to put in place the kind of common sense reforms that would be designed to both promote our national security interests on the one hand, and on the other protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people,” Jeffries said at a press conference Monday.
“The negotiations, prior to Trump’s announcement, with respect to Bill Pulte, were already in a very sensitive place. And then Donald Trump, as he often does, tosses a hand grenade into those sensitive negotiations by elevating Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence,” said Jeffries.
Pulte was named by President Trump to follow Tulsi Gabbard, who announced she was stepping down from the role later this month, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. Pulte has no experience in national security or the intelligence community and has been serving as the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency during Trump’s second term. Pulte infamously recommended that the Department of Justice open investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, and Democratic politicians, alleging some form of mortgage fraud. The move was transparently a way to weaponize laws against critics of President Trump, and most people assume that’s the reason Pulte is being installed as the acting Director of National Intelligence.
