Trump doubles down on Pulte DNI, calls for short-term extension of FISA

President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his choice of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, despite bipartisan pushback on the pick that could result in the lapse this week of a foreign surveillance program with major national security implications.

Earlier this month Trump tapped Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has used his perch to launch a series of probes into several of the president’s political opponents over allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing.

The move drew swift criticism from both sides of the aisle and calls for Trump to ditch his choice of Pulte or quickly find a permanent replacement for the role. It also increased the odds that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans, would expire at the end of the week as Democrats vowed to withhold their support.

“This is not my side’s fault. Frankly it’s not the Republican senators’ fault,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters Wednesday. “This administration, this president owns it if 702 goes dark, by throwing a live hand grenade into a controversial bill that was on a path to three years of reauthorization.”

“I can’t think of a more incompetent, unqualified, dangerous person to make acting DNI,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said on Capitol Hill about Pulte.

But Trump was apparently unfazed, attacking Democrats in a post on TruthSocial and calling for a short-term extension of the program.

“Just like they did on Border Funding, the Radical Left Dumocrats are trying to take our National Security hostage because of unrelated issues. They should stop playing politics with the safety of our Great Country,” Trump posted Wednesday.

In the post, Trump said he is looking for a permanent DNI nominee, but in the meantime Pulte would take over on June 19. Trump said he’d asked Pulte “to execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies.”

Senate leaders in both parties on Wednesday were floating the idea of another short-term extension. The proposal would extend the program through July 2, MS NOW reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The FISA program has critics on both sides of the aisle, who worry it could lead to the surveillance of U.S. citizens. Proponents, meanwhile, argue it’s a crucial national security tool that is all the more important as the U.S. conflict in Iran continues and the FIFA Men’s World Cup kicks off this week with games in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“FISA 702 is very important to our Military, and keeping the American People safe, especially during the World Cup and America250 Celebrations,” Trump wrote in the Wednesday post. “If…