Mitch McConnell has issued a blistering statement opposing Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, arguing the president’s pick lacks the statutory qualifications required for the role. “Very few Senate-confirmable positions come with statutory eligibility requirements,” the Republican senator said. “There are good reasons why the director of national intelligence is one of them.” Though McConnell did not name Pulte directly, he made clear he would not support a permanent nomination. “Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote,” he said.
McConnell’s record of opposition
McConnell was the only Republican to vote against the confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard, the previous director of national intelligence, whom he accused of “alarming lapses of judgment”. Gabbard, a former four-term Democratic congresswoman who later joined the Republican Party, was confirmed in February 2025 as the first female combat veteran to hold the post. She resigned citing family reasons. McConnell said at the time that when a nominee’s “record proves them unworthy of the highest public trust, and when their command of relevant policy falls short of the requirements of their office, the Senate should withhold its consent”.
Pulte’s background and qualifications
Bill Pulte, 38, currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He has no prior experience in intelligence or national security. He is a major Republican donor and heir to a home construction fortune; he and his wife have donated roughly $1m to Trump’s political activities, according to researchers. During his tenure at FHFA, Pulte made multiple criminal referrals to the Department of Justice alleging mortgage fraud against several of Trump’s political opponents, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and former Representative Eric Swalwell. The Government Accountability Office has been investigating FHFA’s mortgage fraud investigation procedures.
Senate Republican leader John Thune indicated that Pulte would face a “lengthy road ahead” if formally nominated for the permanent DNI post, stressing the need for “professionals” in the role. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that Pulte “will be willing to shape intelligence around the president’s wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people”.
Broader administration controversies
The appointment comes amid a series of contentious administration actions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent refused to say whether Donald Trump, his family and his businesses would still receive immunity from IRS audits after the administration abandoned a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund that would have benefited the president’s allies. Pressed repeatedly by lawmakers, Bessent cited an unresolved legal dispute and deflected questions to the Justice Department. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has indicated the audit immunity provision remains unchanged.
Senate Republicans dropped language providing up to $1bn for security upgrades to Trump’s proposed White House ballroom from their immigration enforcement bill, after some party members raised concerns about the optics of using taxpayer money during a cost-of-living crisis ahead of the midterm elections. The revised bill was unveiled shortly before a procedural vote.
Trump has also threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners, including the UK, the EU and Australia, over alleged forced labour failures. The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said the failure of America’s most important trading partners to address forced labour “creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field”. The move comes after earlier tariffs were ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court and the US Trade Court.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted to the House foreign affairs committee that the administration “understood the risk factors” when it launched war on Iran, including that Tehran would retaliate against US allies and close the Strait of Hormuz, driving up global costs. “Everyone knew what Iran would do in response … but they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said. He also confirmed that Trump will attend the Nato heads of state meeting in Turkey next month, describing it as “probably the most important meeting in Nato’s history”.
Trump confirmed a report that he shouted and used profanity in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut. “I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know, at some point I said, ‘Bibi, we gotta stop this, we gotta stop it,’” Trump told the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast. During the same interview, Trump described a potential vice-presidential ticket of JD Vance and Marco Rubio as “unbeatable”.
Rubio declined to answer a question from a House committee member about who won the 2020 presidential election, saying he does not “participate in domestic political issues” as secretary of state.
Supreme Court ruling on Alabama redistricting
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority issued an unsigned order allowing Alabama to use a redrawn congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts. A three-judge panel had previously found that the map was drawn with an intent to discriminate against Black voters. The court’s order stated that under its earlier decision in Louisiana v Callais, the district court “was required to deny relief unless the plaintiffs’ alternative map performed ‘just as well’ with respect to all of the State’s constitutionally permissible districting criteria”. The majority noted that the alternative map would not perform as well regarding keeping together the Gulf Coast community of interest and avoiding the pairing of incumbents.
Harvard law professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos, who studies elections, said the decision “cuts off most escape routes from Callais and sends a clear signal that plaintiffs should just lose all claims involving race and redistricting”. He described the court’s reasoning as “cursory” and “gullible” in accepting Alabama’s stated goals. “I think it’s now pretty obvious that, in all but the most exceptional circumstances, the supreme court will not tolerate any federal judicial regulation of race and redistricting,” he said.
Travis Crum, an election law professor at Washington University in St Louis, said the court had given states “a blueprint for identifying certain priorities – incumbent protection or a particular partisan makeup of the congressional delegation – that make it virtually impossible for Section 2 plaintiffs” to win cases. “Statewide Section 2 claims are basically non-starters across the south after Callais,” he added.
Richard Hasen, an election law scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the decision “not only reinforces the virtually impossible standard plaintiffs must face now to bring a Section 2 claim, they’ve practically closed the door on constitutional vote dilution claims as well”. He criticised the court’s use of a “nearly irrebuttable presumption that states are acting in good faith”.
Surveillance law in jeopardy
The appointment of Pulte as acting DNI has thrown last-ditch efforts to renew a critical surveillance program into doubt. Senior Democrats immediately warned that the move could doom a fragile bipartisan agreement to reauthorise Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is due to expire on 12 June. Section 702 permits US intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign targets operating outside the country without a warrant, but it has also been used to collect communications of Americans, raising privacy concerns. Congress is working towards the deadline amid bipartisan calls for reforms. The FBI has acknowledged “persistent and widespread” compliance problems, with hundreds of thousands of noncompliant searches reported. Trump has reportedly been encouraging Congress to renew Section 702 without reforms, while lawmakers on both sides have expressed reservations about an extension without changes. The combination of Pulte’s lack of intelligence experience and the administration’s pressure for an unreformed renewal leaves the program’s future highly uncertain.
