Trump Tells Acting Spy Chief to Slash Intelligence Ranks

President Trump wants his new temporary intelligence chief to use his limited time in the job to cut staffs. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Trump said he has asked acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to start removing employees and shrinking the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, describing it as "unnecessary and/or too big." Trump said Pulte's short-term, confirmation-free appointment makes him "less shackled" and better positioned to do "a lot of the hard work" before a permanent successor to Tulsi Gabbard is installed. He also floated the possibility of ultimately dismantling the office altogether.

The choice of Pulte, who now runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has no national security background, has drawn pushback from senators of both parties. Pulte didn't even have the security clearance necessary for access to highly classified information, per CNN, which has been a prerequisite for the intelligence post. Because of his acting status, Pulte can't stay in the job for more than 210 days. The office oversees 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA; it's not clear whether Pulte would have the authority to fire people at all of them, per the Hill.