Scoop: Pulte sought Gabbard's early removal as intel czar
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Photos: Tulsi Gabbard by Heather Diehl/Getty Images; Bill Pulte by Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing director of national intelligence, got an unexpected call Tuesday from her controversial successor, Bill Pulte: "Today is your last day," he said.
- Gabbard was surprised. She had announced she was leaving at month's end, not Tuesday.
- "I need to hear it from the president or the White House," Gabbard told Pulte, two officials briefed on the discussion told Axios.
Why it matters: The call, unreported until now, was the latest flashpoint in the intelligence wars that erupted last week in D.C. after President Trump picked Pulte as Gabbard's temporary replacement.
- After the conversation with Pulte, Gabbard got ahold of Trump, who didn't request her immediate resignation. "What day works best for you?" the president asked, according to one of the sources.
- Gabbard said June 19, and Trump then posted a statement on his Truth Social account announcing her new exit date.
- He also confirmed that Pulte would lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence until he finds a nominee whom the Senate will confirm.
The backstory: Pulte's phone call to Gabbard came on a day when top Trump advisers held a meeting in the White House's Situation Room to try to find a solution to the administration's standoff with Congress over renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
- Trump's appointment of Pulte led to a bipartisan revolt in Congress, which has balked at reauthorizing a key federal surveillance law because of concerns about Pulte's lack of qualifications.
- Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no intelligence experience or even a security clearance to handle classified information.
- Gabbard's new departure date was a partial win for Pulte; Gabbard initially planned to resign June 30 as she helps her husband battle cancer.
The intrigue: Pulte was able to persuade Trump to pick him as Gabbard's successor by promising to fire more ODNI staff, mainly officials who couldn't cut it at other agencies and alleged "deep state" bureaucrats deemed sympathetic to Democrats, a senior administration official said.
- Pulte's family, Florida-based developers, have been friends with Trump for years and belong to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla
- Pulte, who clashed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last year, is a frequent White House visitor and played a role in Trump posting a controversial meme depicting the president as a Christ-like healer.
What they're saying: As Tuesday's Situation Room meeting indicated, Trump's team is still dealing with the fallout from Pulte's appointment. It caught some White House officials off-guard and derailed Congress' negotiations on reauthorizing FISA.
- "Nobody seems to know what the f**k is going on," one administration official said.
- Retorted a senior official: "This admin official is a dumb f**k and clearly is not in the loop."
- But Trump's allies in Congress weren't in the loop, either. Said one: "We were so close to FISA passing, and then this Pulte thing blew it up."
Trump retrenched somewhat Tuesday by confirming that Pulte's appointment is temporary. But he stood by Pulte, said one adviser who added that "the FISA-for-Pulte hostage deal isn't one the president will buckle to."
