Acting intelligence chief starts staff reductions at spy-agency office while keeping housing-finance posts

Bill Pulte began serving as acting director of national intelligence on Friday, June 20, and has started reducing staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Hill reported that Pulte retains his position as head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while executing the reductions.

President Trump posted on social media on June 10 directing Pulte to carry out immediate downsizing of the office.

Pulte is the first ODNI director since the agency’s creation after the September 11, 2001 attacks to lack prior intelligence or national security experience and a prior security clearance. Pulte’s predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard, stated she had fired 500 people, about 30 percent of ODNI staff, with a goal of cutting staffing levels in half.

Many of the reductions under Pulte have been concentrated in the National Counterterrorism Center, though the total number of staff let go under Pulte has not been publicly specified.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner stated on Tuesday that Pulte is starting to fire hundreds and requested to take the presidential daily brief to an unsecure location while also seeking a private government jet for travel between Chicago, Florida and Washington.

Warner introduced legislation this week that would require the president to fill future ODNI vacancies from a list of Senate-confirmed officials. The surveillance authority reauthorization lapsed on June 12 after Democrats declined to extend it over concerns about Pulte.

After Congress adjourned, President Trump announced he would nominate U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton as permanent director but later directed Clayton not to appear at a Senate confirmation hearing scheduled for June 25. Sen.