1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

Donald Trump’s new acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, is ordering cuts on his very first day on the job, as he moves aggressively to carry out the president’s mandate to shrink the country’s national intelligence apparatus. As the new acting DNI told staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence late Thursday, he wants a list of about 300 employees from the National Counterterrorism Center to fire in the coming weeks. Pulte, Trump's ally and choice for DNI comes to ODNI with no prior national security or intelligence experience. Pulte has gained notoriety in Washington while serving as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he urged the Department of Justice to investigate several of the president’s opponents for mortgage fraud. Trump has said he will continue on in that role while at ODNI. Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that those actions “demonstrate why he should never spend a minute as Director of National Intelligence, a role he is legally not qualified to perform.” Bill Pulte is not only unfit for the position of DNI, but is also a threat to the rule of law. He seems only too willing to carry out Trump's petty and illegal retribution campaign against political opponents and perceived enemies. Bill Pulte will make our country less safe and Congress should use every power in its possession to insure he does not stay in this role a moment longer!