Republican Sen. Thom Tillis came out hard against President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community on Wednesday, saying the nominee has no realistic path to Senate confirmation.
The remarks came on CNBC's Squawk Box, according to CNBC. Tillis, a retiring senator from North Carolina, called Bill Pulte an "incendiary attack dog" and said flatly: "I don't think he has a prayer" of becoming the permanent director of national intelligence.
Trump appointed Pulte as acting DNI on Tuesday. Pulte currently heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency and also serves as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He is replacing outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month she would resign on June 30. Trump said Pulte would hold both roles simultaneously.
Pulte has no known prior experience in intelligence work. He is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist who, during his time at the FHFA, targeted several of the president's political opponents. Those targets included Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom faced mortgage-related allegations from Pulte.
Tillis did not hold back on the process either. "Whoever told the president to go ahead and commit to this publicly before vetting it should lose their jobs, because they should know that the math just works against Pulte being confirmed," he said.
The senator also raised questions about Pulte's personal history. Tillis noted that Pulte, a descendant of the founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup, was pushed off the company's board in 2020 amid disagreements with other directors. He also referenced a statement from the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation clarifying that Bill Pulte does not speak for his family in any capacity. "Why do I bring that up? I bring it up because it suggests a temperament that's probably not right for the DNI role," Tillis said.
On the qualifications front, Tillis was direct. "I don't believe he's ever had a security clearance. He clearly has no experience in intelligence, he has no geopolitical experience, no international connections — the sorts of things you would look for" in a DNI, he said.
The numbers, Tillis argued, tell the story on their own. "He's got a structural problem. He simply doesn't have 51 votes on the Senate floor, and he may not even have the votes in [the Senate intelligence] committee, and we just need to tell the president that clearly," the senator said.
Tillis acknowledged that the Trump administration could sidestep the confirmation fight by keeping Pulte in the acting role indefinitely rather than pushing for a permanent Senate-confirmed appointment. That path would avoid a floor vote but would also leave the nation's top intelligence post in the hands of someone serving without Senate approval.
The senator also suggested the Pulte nomination could create complications for other legislative priorities, given the already sharp divisions in Congress. With Tillis retiring at the end of his term, he has less political risk in speaking out than colleagues who face reelection. Whether other Republican senators follow his lead publicly remains to be seen. The Senate intelligence committee has not yet scheduled any confirmation hearing.
