President Donald Trump has announced that Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will serve as acting director of national intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard leaves the post.
Gabbard announced her resignation on May 22, after her husband Abraham Williams was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Her resignation takes effect June 30. President Trump praised Pulte on Truth Social, saying he has experience managing sensitive matters involving market stability and more than $10 trillion at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Pulte will remain in his housing roles while temporarily leading the Intelligence Community. The DNI oversees 18 intelligence organizations, including the CIA, NSA, DIA, and FBI intelligence branch, and serves as the president’s top intelligence adviser.
Pulte may not come from a traditional intelligence, military, or diplomatic background, but he has shown as Housing Director that he has no problems standing up to entrenched Washington D.C. corruption. He has been a major critic of the Federal Reserve and called for Jerome Powell to be investigated over his multi-billion dollar building renovation scheme that bilked the taxpayer.
President Trump has long argued that Washington’s intelligence bureaucracy needs disruption, accountability, and leaders who are loyal to the elected president — not the permanent administrative state. Pulte, 38, is the grandson of PulteGroup founder William J. Pulte and was confirmed as FHFA director in March 2025. Since then, he has made the agency far more visible, including leadership changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
His appointment signals Trump’s continued willingness to put reformers in charge of powerful institutions. In a government long dominated by insiders, that is the course correction that is necessary. Pulte will excel in his role as Acting DNI.
