NextFin News - President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Bill Pulte will take over as acting director of national intelligence on June 19 and asked Congress for a short-term extension of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 before it expires on June 12. In a Truth Social post, he tied a personnel move to an immediate national security deadline.
The announcement put two separate Washington fights on the same timeline: who runs U.S. intelligence and how long the government can keep using a surveillance authority that has already drawn bipartisan resistance. Without congressional action, the surveillance program lapses this week. At the same time, the Intelligence Community is still waiting for a permanent leader at a politically sensitive moment.
CNBC reported that Trump has doubled down on Pulte despite pushback from lawmakers and privacy advocates. Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has also become a controversial figure because he has used his post to initiate probes of some of Trump's political opponents over mortgage-related allegations. That gives the White House's choice more political weight than a routine acting appointment.
In his post, Trump argued that FISA 702 is
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