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riversedge

(81,734 posts)
Tue Jun 2, 2026, 02:58 PM 9 hrs ago

COTTON: We have 4 more weeks with Director Gabbard as the DNI

Cotten steps up to mic at about .30




@bcfinucane.bsky.social‬
"I have no observations on the matter."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
‪Aaron Rupar‬
‪@atrupar.com‬
· 21m
RAJU: Do you think Bill Pulte has experience to be acting DNI?

THUNE: I'll defer to Chairman Cotton

COTTON: We have 4 more weeks with Director Gabbard as the DNI

RAJU: And Pulte?

COTTON: I have no observations on the matter

"I have no observations on the matter."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Brian Finucane (@bcfinucane.bsky.social) 2026-06-02T18:51:07.779Z



Rim Brake Monkey (@rimbrakemonkey.bsky.social) 2026-06-02T18:43:53.603Z

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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COTTON: We have 4 more weeks with Director Gabbard as the DNI (Original Post) riversedge 9 hrs ago OP
So the crappy home builder of the "50 year mortgage" fame Marie Marie 8 hrs ago #1
Under Trump it is a vestigial position. mr715 8 hrs ago #2
Yep, the 50-year mortgage is his brilliant idea. maxsolomon 7 hrs ago #3
MaddowBlog-Trump taps FHFA's Pulte for acting DNI in latest radical personnel move LetMyPeopleVote 3 hrs ago #4

Marie Marie

(11,589 posts)
1. So the crappy home builder of the "50 year mortgage" fame
Tue Jun 2, 2026, 03:54 PM
8 hrs ago

will now be in charge of National Intelligence. Hmmm, what did I miss? His years of ripping people off with overpriced homes qualifies him for this position how? Oh well, it's not like that is an important National Security post or anything.. Jeebus effin' Christ.

mr715

(4,418 posts)
2. Under Trump it is a vestigial position.
Tue Jun 2, 2026, 03:58 PM
8 hrs ago

I suspect Rubio is the one that has centralized the entire intelligence apparatus and DNI has eroded.

No one is talking about filling the position of National Security Advisor I don't think. Meanwhile, Rubio is wielding Kissinger levels of power and is staying pretty low key while idiots like Hegseth preen and douches like Vance pray.

maxsolomon

(39,194 posts)
3. Yep, the 50-year mortgage is his brilliant idea.
Tue Jun 2, 2026, 05:13 PM
7 hrs ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Pulte
Early life and education (1988–2010)
William John Pulte was born on May 28, 1988, in Boynton Beach, Florida.[1] He was the first son of Noreen and Mark Pulte;[2][a] Mark later married Julie.[3] Pulte's grandfather was William J. Pulte, the founder of PulteGroup, a residential home construction company.[4] In high school, Pulte worked for a construction company.[5] He graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism,[5] where he was the president of his university's chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, in 2010.[2] He started an aerial photography business during his time at the university.[2] At Northwestern University, Pulte met his wife, a chemical engineer.[5]

Career
Private equity (2010–2016)
After graduating, Pulte interned for Huron Capital Partners and later worked for Penske Capital Partners.[5] Pulte founded investment firm, Pulte Capital, in 2011.[2] The company had two hundred employees and US$30 million in revenue by 2014. That year, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.[6]

Pulte Group (2016–2020)
In March 2016,[7] William J. Pulte began a campaign to remove PulteGroup's chief executive, Richard Dugas Jr.[8] Dugas announced that he would resign the following month amid pressure from Pulte, his grandson, and Jim Grosfeld.[9] The younger Pulte was appointed to the board in September,[10] becoming one of the youngest board members of a Fortune 500 company.[2] Following the elder Pulte's death in 2018, he was the only descendant to receive an inheritance, according to a lawsuit.[4] Pulte remained on the board until 2020, after being ousted due to disagreements with established board members.[5][11] During his tenure, he successfully blocked chief executive Ryan Marshall's proposal to promote Brandon Jones, the Michigan division president, to chief operating officer.[4] Pulte sued Jones in December 2022, claiming that he had been subject to harassment on Twitter.[4]

Philanthropy and nonprofit work
In 2019, Pulte began using Twitter as a platform for philanthropic efforts.[2] According to Pulte, he was inspired during a summer vacation[2] by Andrew Yang's pledge to give US$1,000 per month.[12] He has referred to himself as the "inventor of Twitter philanthropy." Pulte's posts often involve giveaways in which recipients must follow him, as well as promotional posts for GoFundMe campaigns. By August, he had established a team of ten people to work through charity requests.[2] Pulte brought attention to GoFundMe campaigns established for victims of the Oxford High School shooting[5] and the Uvalde school shooting.[13] By December 2022, he had garnered 3.2 million followers.[4]

By 2013, Pulte had founded[14] the Detroit Blight Authority, a nonprofit that clears empty homes and cleans up trash, leaving empty lots.[15] After Mike Duggan was inaugurated as the mayor of Detroit in January 2014, he requested that Pulte halt his efforts. Pulte since founded The Blight Authority, a nonprofit operating in Pontiac, Michigan, and—at the behest of Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey—St. Louis.[2] In November 2018, Pontiac mayor Deirdre Waterman stated that her city was set to be blight-free by the following year.[16] Pulte estimated his net worth to be US$100 million in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in December 2021.[5]

Political activities

In July 2019, president Donald Trump praised Pulte for promising to give two cars to two veterans if Trump retweeted the post.[17] Pulte told The Detroit News in 2019 that he had met Trump several times and that Trump was familiar with the Blight Authority. In 2024, he contributed heavily to Republican causes, including donating to the Republican National Committee and Trump's presidential campaign.[18]

LetMyPeopleVote

(182,829 posts)
4. MaddowBlog-Trump taps FHFA's Pulte for acting DNI in latest radical personnel move
Tue Jun 2, 2026, 08:34 PM
3 hrs ago

When identifying the most outlandish personnel move of Trump’s second term, the competition is fierce, though this has to be near the top of the list.

The idea of having Bill “Little Trump” Pulte serve as acting DNI, despite his recent abuses and obvious lack of qualifications, while simultaneously overseeing the FHFA, isn’t just misguided.

It’s the punchline to a dreadfully unfunny joke.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-06-02T14:01:34.012Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-appoints-fhfa-bill-pulte-acting-director-national-intelligence

There’s been some speculation about her possible successor, and while the president hasn’t formally announced his new nominee, on Tuesday morning he published a statement on his social media platform alerting the public to his acting DNI choice. The missive read in its entirety:

I am appointing the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, William J. Pulte, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence. William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago. During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!


When identifying the single most outlandish personnel move of Trump’s second term, the competition is admittedly fierce, though this has to be near the top of the list.

Pulte has no experience whatsoever working in or around the U.S. intelligence community, and no experience in the military or national security. He has earned a reputation as a hyperpartisan Trump loyalist who’s tried to use his office to target the White House’s political opponents.....

To an almost cartoonish degree, the Trump sycophant has taken it upon himself to target one White House foe after another, weaponizing mortgage fraud allegations against the president’s perceived political enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook.

What does this work have to do with serving as the acting director of national intelligence? By any reasonable measure, nothing, though for Trump, who clearly wants unflinching loyalists in as many key positions as possible, Pulte’s antics are a key selling point.....

Others have been far less impressed. The Government Accountability Office, an independent and nonpartisan investigative watchdog for Congress, opened an investigation into Pulte’s alleged abuses in the fall, and around the same time, MS NOW reported that a federal grand jury in Maryland was investigating whether Pulte and Justice Department official Ed Martin illegally shared sensitive grand jury information with unauthorized people.

With a background like this, common sense suggests it would be wise to keep Pulte as far away from the ODNI as possible. Alas, in this White House, common sense is apparently in short supply.....

Senate Majority Leader John Thune admitted as much on Tuesday morning, saying, “We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there. … If he’s somebody we want in that position permanently, he’s got a lengthy road ahead of him.”
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