In a recent conversation with the Wall Street Journal, President Trump expressed his desire for Bill Pulte, his controversial nominee to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), to begin reducing the workforce and scale down the office. This office is responsible for overseeing the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies.
President Trump criticized the ODNI as either “unnecessary” or “too large,” voicing his dissatisfaction with personnel who remained from previous administrations. He even suggested that the ODNI “should maybe even be terminated,” reflecting his views on its current structure.
The president remarked, “I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there.” When asked if he was instructing Pulte to dismiss ODNI employees, Trump indicated that he wanted Pulte to initiate a reduction process that could be carried forward by a permanent director.
Drawing parallels to his administration’s approach to the Department of Education, Trump noted, “We’ve made the Department of Education much smaller, and likewise, this should be much smaller. And this should maybe even be terminated, and we’ll make that decision.”
While traveling aboard Air Force One later that Friday, President Trump did not explicitly confirm that Pulte would be executing staff cuts at the ODNI but mentioned, “I wouldn’t mind that,” adding that the number of employees at the ODNI is “way too high.”
As Pulte steps into the role of acting director, he is allowed to serve for up to 210 days. Concurrently, he continues to manage the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“You’re less shackled,” the president told the Journal, referring to Pulte operating in an acting role. “It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time.”
“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Mr. Trump added.
An ODNI official said Gabbard already reduced agency staff by nearly 50% and saved taxpayers nearly $1 billion in a part of an effort dubbed “ODNI 2.0.” Gabbard, the official noted, has long said she was willing to be the last director of national intelligence if it was determined ODNI was unnecessary.
“We look forward to working with Mr. Pulte and President Trump on additional initiatives to advance savings and root out deep state bad actors,” the ODNI official said.
The president told reporters on Air Force One Friday that he’s interviewing five people for the permanent post at ODNI.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Pulte may look into “rigged elections,” an apparent reference to the 2020 presidential election. As FHFA director, Pulte launched mortgage fraud investigations into Trump foes despite GOP concerns, demonstrating he doesn’t shy from political controversy.
“He’s a very smart guy and he may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc., etc.,” the president said. “I think he’d like to do it. I’d like to — I think he wants to do it very much. Got a lot of energy. But he’ll be very good.”
On Thursday, the president was asked if Pulte is qualified for the intelligence role, given that he has no known national security experience. Mr. Trump suggested Pulte is “smart” and will pick up on the job quickly.
“I think he does, actually, because he’s smart,” Mr. Trump responded. “Look, I wasn’t greatly experienced in national security and I think I’ve done a really great job with it, a lot of people would say that.”
The president’s selection of Pulte hasn’t gone over well on Capitol Hill, where senators on Friday failed to pass a reauthorization of a key surveillance program under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Some lawmakers have said they won’t support the extension with Pulte overseeing the country’s intelligence agencies.
