Crow warns Americans at risk under Pulte's intelligence leadership

Bill Pulte's first days atop the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have already ignited a fight over whether the post is being used to protect Americans or reward loyalty. Rep. Jason Crow, the Colorado Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and a former paratrooper and Army Ranger, said Sunday that he is "more worried day-to-day" because "we have someone who's incompetent at the head of this agency."

Crow went further on CBS News' Face the Nation, calling Pulte a "political attack dog" whose main qualification is loyalty to President Donald Trump. His warning landed at a moment when the acting director's job carries immediate consequences for the intelligence briefings, crisis coordination and oversight that shape how Washington responds to threats at home and abroad.

The office itself was created after the September 11, 2001 attacks to improve intelligence coordination and keep Americans safe. In practice, the director sits above a sprawling intelligence system, pulling together assessments from across agencies and helping decide what reaches the White House, Congress and counterterrorism officials when time is short and the stakes are high. Crow's point was that putting an inexperienced political loyalist in that role is not a symbolic break, but an operational one.

Trump announced in early June that Pulte, a housing finance official with no prior intelligence or national security experience, would serve as acting DNI after Tulsi Gabbard said she would resign effective June 30. Pulte formally took over Friday, June 20, 2026. The White House has defended the move by saying Pulte brought experience managing sensitive matters at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and would help "drain the Swamp."

Criticism has come from both parties. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there." Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Pulte a "national security threat."

The dispute has already spilled into policy. Democrats declined to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after Pulte's selection, and the warrantless overseas surveillance authority expired earlier this month. Last week, Senate Republicans tried to advance Trump's long-term DNI pick, Jay Clayton, before Trump abruptly halted the hearing and tied the confirmation to unrelated legislative and personnel demands.

Pulte has also moved quickly inside ODNI. According to reporting cited by lawmakers, he directed staff to compile a list of about 300 employees at the National Counterterrorism Center for possible firing. The center has more than 1,000 personnel drawn from the intelligence community, federal agencies and contractors. Trump has said he wants Pulte to fire "a lot of people" and that acting authority gives him more power to make changes quickly.

For Crow, the danger is not just who holds the title, but what happens if the country needs clear, credible intelligence and finds the coordination arm of government being stripped down instead.