#bill-pulte — Trump Fail

Rebuffed by the Supreme Court in June, Trump Revived His Unprecedented Campaign to Fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — Reusing the Same Cherry-Picked Mortgage-Paperwork Allegations to Try to Remove, "For Cause," the First Governor Any President Has Ever Sought to Purge in the Fed's 111-Year History, in a Naked Bid to Bend Interest Rates to His Will; Cook Called the Charges Baseless and Turned Them Back on Trump's Own Cabinet

For the first time in the Federal Reserve's 111-year history, a president is trying to fire a sitting governor — and having failed once, Trump is trying again. In 2025 he purported to remove Governor Lisa Cook "for cause," citing a criminal referral from his own housing-finance director, Bill Pulte, that accused her of listing two homes — one in Michigan, one in Georgia — as her primary residence on mortgage paperwork. Cook sued; lower courts blocked the removal; and in late June 2026 the Supreme Court let her keep her seat while the case proceeds (even as it expanded Trump's removal power over other independent agencies). In August 2026, Trump revived the effort with the same allegations. Cook's lawyers answered in a five-page letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and the White House calling the charges "unfounded and untrue," arguing that "an inadvertent error is not fraud," accusing Pulte of "cherry-picking" mortgage documents to manufacture a referral, and pointedly turning the same kind of paperwork scrutiny back on Trump and members of his own Cabinet. Strip away the mortgage pretext and the real target is the Fed's independence: Trump wants lower interest rates, a governor who will vote for them, and the power to remove any governor who won't. Firing Cook would hand the president direct leverage over the central bank that sets the price of money for the entire economy — the precise outcome a century of law was built to prevent.

Trump Put His Housing Official — Who Had No Security Clearance, No Intelligence Experience, and Asked If He Could Take the Presidential Daily Brief Home — in Charge of 18 Spy Agencies, Then Told Him to Mass-Fire Intelligence Workers: He's Fired 50+ Officials, Plans to Cut 300-400 from the Counterterrorism Center Built After 9/11, and Even Republicans Say "We Don't Need a Weaponized DNI"

Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte — who had no security clearance, no intelligence experience, and previously ran the Federal Housing Finance Agency where he filed criminal referrals against Trump's political enemies for alleged mortgage fraud — began mass-firing intelligence officials on July 2, sending termination notices to over 50 career intelligence professionals. Pulte has ordered staff to identify 300-400 employees for dismissal from the National Counterterrorism Center, the operations floor built after 9/11 where CIA, FBI, and ODNI personnel monitor active terrorist threats. He was appointed after Tulsi Gabbard resigned as DNI in May, citing her husband's cancer diagnosis. Trump had nominated Jay Clayton as permanent DNI but then sabotaged his own nominee's confirmation hearing, canceling it hours before it was scheduled and conditioning it on Congress passing the SAVE Act voter ID bill — which the Senate has rejected twice. This caused FISA Section 702 surveillance authority to lapse for the first time in history, as Democrats refused to reauthorize it with an unvetted acting DNI. Senator Mark Warner revealed Pulte asked to take the Presidential Daily Brief home — "the most classified information" in government — and "didn't even know" that was against the law. In his only briefing at ODNI, Pulte asked what level security clearance he had and whether he got a government plane. At FHFA, Pulte filed criminal referrals against Senator Adam Schiff, Fed Governor Lisa Cook, AG Letitia James, and Rep. Eric Swalwell — all Democrats — using Palantir AI tools to search mortgage records of Trump's perceived opponents. Trump told Pulte he could declassify "whatever" he wants. Senate Majority Leader John Thune: "We don't need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there." A former intelligence official: "This is a fantasy. It only hurts U.S. national security, and it's helpful to Russia, China, and Iran." Another: "It would be like me taking over a hospital and firing dozens of surgeons in a matter of days." Rep. Jim Himes: "If he just starts willy-nilly firing people, it is going to increase the probability that there is a terrorist attack inside the United States." Gabbard had already cut ODNI by 30% — over 500 staffers. Pulte is cutting deeper. The agency created to prevent another 9/11 is now being dismantled by a man who didn't know he couldn't bring classified documents to his house.

Trump Sabotages His Own DNI Nominee's Hearing, Holds National Security Hostage for a Voter ID Bill That Can't Pass — FISA Lapses for the First Time Ever

Trump blindsided Senate Republicans with an overnight Truth Social post from the G7 in France, ordering the cancellation of Jay Clayton's confirmation hearing as Director of National Intelligence — hours before it was scheduled to begin. His demands: (1) the Senate must first confirm Jamie McDonald, his pick to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and (2) Congress must attach his SAVE America Act voter ID bill to any FISA renewal. The result: FISA Section 702 — which provides 60% of the president's daily intelligence briefing — has lapsed for the first time since 2008; Bill Pulte, a housing official with zero national security experience who is under GAO investigation for weaponizing mortgage fraud allegations against Trump's critics, remains as acting DNI; and the qualified, bipartisan-backed nominee sits idle. Sen. Cotton initially said he'd proceed with the hearing anyway, then reversed. GOP Sen. Cramer: "Frankly, I was disappointed again." Thune acknowledged the SAVE Act "doesn't have the votes." Schumer: "Trump is holding our national security hostage." Homeland Security Secretary Mullin warned the threat level is "the highest it's ever been" — during the FIFA World Cup and Freedom 250 celebrations — while the president insists a surveillance program he calls essential cannot be renewed unless Congress passes a voting bill the Senate cannot pass.