JUNE 11, 2026
Trump signals he will replace acting intelligence chief, potentially reviving FISA Section 702 reauthorization
President Trump announced he is actively interviewing candidates to permanently lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), days after naming Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte as acting DNI — a move that stalled bipartisan negotiations over reauthorizing FISA Section 702 before its Friday expiration. Senate Intelligence Committee leaders Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) had been close to a three-year reauthorization deal before Trump's Pulte announcement disrupted those talks. Lawmakers are now considering a short-term extension of several weeks to keep the program running while negotiations continue.
FISA Section 702, which authorizes the collection of hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals' electronic communications and is one of the U.S. government's primary surveillance tools, was approaching a Friday deadline when Senate negotiations collapsed following Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. Sens. Warner and Cotton had been adapting a House-passed bill into a compromise three-year reauthorization that included reforms to Section 702, a measure both reported was close to securing the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate.
Trump's announcement that he is interviewing five candidates for the permanent DNI role and expects Pulte to serve only briefly offered a potential path forward. "I would say this, [Pulte is] going to be there for a short while, while we pick somebody else," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to Fox News. Sen. Tim Kaine said knowing who the permanent DNI nominee would be could be "enough to dislodge some Democrats" to support an extension.
Several senators, however, described Trump's timeline as too vague. Sen. Angus King said he could not support an extension without a "measurable, defined" deadline for Pulte's departure. Democrats expressed concern that Pulte — who has no national security background and used his FHFA role to publicly accuse several of Trump's perceived political opponents of mortgage fraud — would oversee the intelligence apparatus. "He's extraordinarily unqualified, but the timing could also not be more of a mistake," Warner told NPR. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune separately said, "We don't need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there."