Trump: Pulte's Just Temporary

President Trump said Thursday that the man he just put in charge of America's spy agencies is only keeping the seat warm. Two days after naming Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, CNBC reports, Trump told reporters that Pulte "is not going to be permanent," adding he doesn't think Pulte would want the job long-term. Trump's selection of Pulte, who has no intelligence background and will keep running FHFA and overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, baffled Republican senators and outraged Democratic ones. The opening was created when Tulsi Gabbard left the intelligence post.

Trump said other candidates were under consideration for nomination to the position. "We're interviewing people right now," he said, per the AP. But Trump indicated he has work for Pulte, suggesting he could investigate domestic matters including what he again described as "rigged elections," per CNBC. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote Trump on Thursday calling for him to drop his appointment of Pulte. Even having him in the job on an acting basis, she said, is a danger given the president's remark that the agency could be used "to promote election denial theories." Some senators had said confirmation of Pulte's nomination to the position was unlikely.