Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) questions Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent during a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in Washington, DC on February 5, 2026.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community as an “incendiary attack dog” and said he has no path to being confirmed by the Senate.
The remarks on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the retiring North Carolina senator added to the growing backlash against Bill Pulte, the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, whom Trump appointed acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday.
“I don’t think he has a prayer” of making it through the Senate and becoming the permanent DNI, Tillis said of Pulte.
But the senator acknowledged that the Trump administration could try to skirt the issue by simply leaving Pulte in place with the “acting” title instead of trying to push for full confirmation.
Pulte, who has no known prior experience in an intelligence role, is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist who has targeted the president’s political foes during his tenure leading the housing regulatory agency.
Those targets include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who both faced allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing by Pulte.
Trump said that Pulte will serve as acting DNI while continuing to work as FHFA director and chairman of the mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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