Bill Pulte arrived at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington, United States, a day before his scheduled start on Friday and is considering hundreds of ODNI cuts.
Pulte, President Donald Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence, asked for a list of every employee in the office to assess possible dismissals, CNN reported.
Trump had earlier directed Pulte to begin “immediate” downsizing at ODNI when taking over on June 19, according to Al Jazeera, citing Trump’s public statement.
The visit caught ODNI staff off-guard, including outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who received brief notice, CNN reported. Pulte met lawyers and staffers during the visit, the sources said.
The White House said on June 4 that Trump’s appointment of William J. Pulte as acting director of national intelligence had drawn support from several Republican lawmakers.
TIME reported that Pulte also remained director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and had no direct intelligence background.
Pulte previously asked ODNI officials about receiving the President’s Daily Brief at home, his security clearance level, access to a government plane and a protective detail.
One source disputed the concern over the briefing, saying the PDB is provided electronically. Pulte’s arrival came amid uncertainty over Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee for the permanent DNI post.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton called Trump’s decision to halt Clayton’s confirmation hearing “regrettable,”
While Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he had not previously been asked to slow a nomination, CNN reported.
Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN the priority should be confirming Clayton “as quickly as possible” as director of national intelligence
