Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on Monday urged President Trump to preserve the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's surveillance powers by abandoning the plan to install Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence.
“FISA gives us over 50 percent of our most sensitive intelligence and has enabled the U.S. to stop multiple terrorist attacks,” Bacon wrote on X. “Letting FISA lapse would reflect a nation paralyzed by hyper-partisanship and dysfunction. POTUS can help by canceling plans to put Bill Pulte as Acting DNI.”
The surveillance authority is set to expire on June 12, and its renewal has become entangled in the controversy over Pulte's appointment. Both Democrats and Republicans have voiced objections, citing concerns about Pulte's access to top-level national security information and personal records of Americans.
Last year, Pulte issued criminal referrals targeting President Trump's political opponents based on their mortgage records, raising alarms about his judgment. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) called the appointment a “national security disaster” on Fox News Sunday, adding, “You’re going to turn the keys of all of our intelligence agencies over somebody so grossly unqualified who’s shown he’s willing to take information and misuse it — secret information.”
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) echoed those concerns, telling Fox News Sunday, “He’s not qualified for the long-term position, that’s been clear on this. He has no national security background.” Lankford described the role as a short-term interim position—lasting a few weeks to a month—because Tulsi Gabbard stepped aside to care for her husband undergoing medical treatment.
The standoff highlights growing fissures within the GOP as midterms approach. GOP lawmakers have increasingly defied Trump on various fronts, and the Pulte nomination has become a flashpoint. The controversy has also drawn comparisons to other contentious administration picks, such as Rep. Jim Himes’ blistering critique of Pulte as Trump's “worst and most dangerous” intelligence pick.
Before Pulte's appointment, House lawmakers debated FISA changes, including adding a warrant requirement and a permanent ban on central bank digital currencies as part of a long-term extension. The expiration deadline now looms with no clear path to renewal, as bipartisan opposition to Pulte threatens to stall the legislative process.
“This is a national security disaster,” Warner warned, a sentiment shared by a growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The fate of FISA—and the nation's intelligence-gathering capabilities—now rests on whether Trump heeds Bacon's call to reverse course on Pulte.
