GOP Sen. Tillis slams Trump intelligence pick Pulte: 'Don't think he has a prayer'

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community as an "incendiary attack dog" who has no path to being confirmed by the Senate.

The remarks on CNBC's "Squawk Box" from the retiring North Carolina senator added to the growing backlash against Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, whom Trump appointed acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday on top of his housing role.

"I don't think he has a prayer" of making it through the Senate and becoming the permanent DNI, Tillis said of Pulte.

Tillis joins a parade of lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, recoiling from Pulte's appointment. Pulte, who has no known prior experience in an intelligence role, is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist who has targeted the president's political foes during his tenure leading the housing regulatory agency.

The move to appoint Pulte now risks further breakdown on issues Congress has been deadlocked on for weeks, including reauthorization of a crucial surveillance law. It also exacerbates a simmering rift between the president and the Senate, which has been repeatedly angered by a series of moves from the White House.

"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," Tillis said.

But the senator also acknowledged that the Trump administration could skirt the issue by simply leaving Pulte in place with the "acting" title instead of trying to push for full confirmation.

Tillis also suggested that Pulte's promotion could imperil Congress' efforts to pass legislation, including reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs warrantless surveillance.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., urged Thune to help convince Trump to reverse Pulte's appointment, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to MS NOW on Wednesday.

If that reversal doesn't happen, all options are on the table, Warner warned, including tanking a bipartisan deal to extend FISA Section 702, the person said.

Warner on Tuesday said Pulte's appointment gives him pause.

"The idea that you put in somebody unqualified, who also has a record of weaponizing confidential information, and I'm supposed to ask, 'just trust us?" he said.

Pulte used his access to mortgage records atop the federal housing apparatus to target Trump's political enemies and refer them for prosecution, a history that has alarmed intelligence analysts who warn that Pulte will now hold the keys to the most sensitive U.S. secrets.

Those targets include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who both faced allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing by Pulte.

Tillis said the appointment represents poor decision making at the White House.

"They need to understand timing," he said of the Trump administration. "Whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House."

"I am tired of amateur hour," he added.

Trump said Pulte will serve as acting DNI while continuing to work as FHFA director and chairman of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte is succeeding outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who said last month that she would resign June 30.

Tillis told CNBC that Pulte "got removed from his family board the moment the family no longer owned 51%," and later made such critical statements "that his father and aunt disavowed him having any association with their family trust."

Tillis was referring to reports that Pulte, a scion of the founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup, was pushed off the company's board in 2020 amid disagreements with other directors. The senator also appeared to reference a statement from the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, clarifying that Bill Pulte, who maintains a highly active social media presence, 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.

"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, Tillis said.

"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.

The White House repeated a statement from Tuesday when asked Wednesday about Tillis' comments.

"The President chooses the best and most talented people to serve in his Cabinet," spokesman Davis Ingle said by email. "Bill Pulte is a great selection and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people."

Tillis isn't the only Republican to voice concerns about Pulte.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost his primary election last month after Trump backed a rival Republican, said during an interview Tuesday at CNBC's CEO Council Summit that Pulte does not appear "competent" to serve as acting DNI.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there."

Pulte has rubbed fellow members of the administration the wrong way in the past, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly nearly came to blows with the housing chief last year.

When Tillis asked Bessent in a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday if he had actually threatened to punch Pulte in the face, Bessent replied, "I actually said I was going to kick his ass."

Bessent added "that was last summer .... many teams have fights in the locker room, and then go out and win for the team on the field."

— CNBC's Garrett Downs and Luke Fountain contributed to this report.