President Donald Trump indicated to House Speaker Mike Johnson during a meeting Tuesday that he wouldn’t back down on his decision to elevate Bill Pulte to acting director of national intelligence, despite threats from Democrats to let a key surveillance power lapse over the appointment, two sources briefed on the meeting told CNN.
GOP leaders are entering crisis mode with just days to go before the authority for the critical surveillance power expires with no clear path to a deal — except ditching Pulte.
Later Tuesday, Trump appeared to double down on his decision, stunning intelligence staffers and lawmakers by announcing Pulte would start his role as acting DNI on June 19. The White House had told Tulsi Gabbard and her team that he would take over after her planned departure at the end of the month.
Privately, Trump has argued to allies that Pulte’s time as acting director would be short — and meant to clear out and restructure the intelligence community before he nominated a permanent replacement. Trump privately said it would be better not to have the permanent director carry out massive firings, sources told CNN.
He also indicated he would not remove Pulte just to appease Democrats. Some allies had indicated to Trump that he would look weak if he named a permanent DNI just to get an extension on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA.
