Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) questions Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on February 5, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Wednesday called President Donald Trump’s decision to lead the U.S. intelligence community a “inflammatory attack dog” that has no chance of being confirmed by the Senate.
The outgoing North Carolina senator’s comments on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” added to the growing backlash against Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, whom Trump named acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday in addition to his role on housing.
“I don’t think he has any hope” of making it through the Senate and becoming the permanent DNI, Tillis said of Pulte.
Tillis joins a parade of representatives, Republicans and Democrats, in balking at Pulte’s appointment. Pulte, who has no known experience in an intelligence role, is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist who has targeted the president’s political opponents during his tenure as head of the Housing Authority.
The move to appoint Pulte now risks further failure on issues on which Congress has been deadlocked for weeks, including the reauthorization of a key surveillance law. It also exacerbates the simmering rift between the president and the Senate, which has been repeatedly angered by a series of moves by the White House.
“Whoever told the president to go ahead and publicly commit to this before reviewing it should lose their job because they should know that the bill militates against Pulte’s confirmation,” Tillis said.
But the senator also acknowledged that the Trump administration could get around the problem by simply keeping Pulte in office with the “acting” title rather than trying to push for full confirmation.
Tillis also noted that Pulte’s promotion could jeopardize Congress’ efforts to pass legislation, including the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which regulates warrantless surveillance.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., called on 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 preventing a bipartisan agreement to extend FISA Section 702, the person said.
Warner said Tuesday that Pulte’s appointment gave him food for thought.
“The idea that you’re going to use someone who’s not qualified to do this, who also has a proven track record of weaponizing sensitive information, and then I’m supposed to say, ‘Do you just trust us?'” he said.
Pulte used its access to federal housing mortgage records to target Trump’s political enemies and refer them for prosecution. It’s a story that worries intelligence analysts, who warn that Pulte now holds the keys to the most sensitive U.S. secrets.
Those targets include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom have faced allegations of mortgage-related misconduct by Pulte.
Tillis said the appointment represented poor decision-making in the White House.
“You have to understand the timing,” he said of the Trump administration. “Whoever these people in the White House are, they need to get the hell out of the White House.”
“I’m tired of amateur hours,” he added.
Trump said Pulte will serve as acting DNI while continuing to serve as FHFA director and chairman of the mortgage giant Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte succeeds outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her retirement on June 30 last month.
Tillis told CNBC that Pulte “was removed from his family board when the family no longer owned 51%” and later made statements so critical “that his father and aunt denied any connection between him and their family foundation.”
Tillis was referring to reports that Pulte, a scion of homebuilding giant PulteGroup’s founder, was ousted from the company’s board in 2020 due to disagreements with other directors. The senator also appeared to reference a statement from the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation that clarified that Bill Pulte, who maintains an extremely active social media presence, “in no way” speaks for his family.
“Why am I bringing this up? I’m bringing it up because it suggests a temperament that is probably not suitable for the DNI role,” Tillis said.
“I don’t think he ever had a security clearance. He clearly has no intelligence experience, he has no geopolitical experience, no international connections – the type of things you would look for,” Tillis said in a DNI.
“He has a structural problem. He simply doesn’t have 51 votes in the Senate, and he may not even have the votes to do so.” [the Senate intelligence] “We just have to tell the president this clearly,” the senator said.
The White House repeated a statement from Tuesday when asked about Tillis’ comments on Wednesday.
“The President selects the best and most talented people for his Cabinet,” spokesman Davis Ingle said by email. “Bill Pulte is a great choice and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people.”
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Tillis isn’t the only Republican to raise concerns about Pulte.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost his primary last month after Trump endorsed a rival Republican, said during an interview Tuesday on CNBC’s CEO Council Summit that Pulte did not appear “competent” to serve as acting DNI.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday: “We don’t need an armed DNI, we need professionals there.”
Pulte has mishandled other members of the administration in the past, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly nearly clashed with the housing chief last year.
When Tillis asked Bessent in a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday whether 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… a lot of teams fight 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.
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