Donald Trump Orders Bill Pulte To Cut ODNI Staff, Says Office Should Be Terminated

President Donald Trump said Friday he wants Bill Pulte, his acting Director of National Intelligence, to cut the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, saying the office has been “way too high for way too long” and adding, “If he cut, I wouldn’t mind.”

“The Pentagon hastily cut tens of thousands of its civilian workers last year”

Business Insider

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he wants Pulte to “start the process” of eliminating some workers and shrinking the office, and he said the ODNI “should maybe even be terminated.”

Business Insider

The president also said Pulte’s acting status could give him more freedom, telling the Journal, “You’re less shackled,” and “It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time.”

Trump’s comments came as he traveled to Wisconsin for an agriculture event, where he told reporters on Air Force One that Pulte is “very good” and “very talented.”

In the same reporting, CBS News said Pulte can serve for 210 days from when he starts the role while continuing to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

CNN reported that before he was announced as Trump’s pick to lead the US intelligence community, Bill Pulte did not have a security clearance granting him access to highly-classified information, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

CNN said the office he is expected to lead initiated the vetting process for his security clearance by requesting a background investigation, and one source said “None” about whether Pulte had gone through any vetting for a security clearance prior to Trump’s announcement.

CBS News

CNN also quoted Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, saying “The director of national intelligence has access to all of our most classified intelligence.”

Separately, the CBS News report said Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he is interviewing five people for the permanent post at ODNI, while the Hill reported that Trump said Pulte will not be in the role permanently.

The Hill further reported that by serving in an acting capacity, Pulte’s tenure is limited to 210 days, and that Trump made references to the Department of Education while saying, “this should maybe even be terminated.”

The reporting ties Trump’s ODNI staffing push to broader election-related aims, with Politico saying Trump told the Journal he wants Pulte to focus on releasing information related to the 2020 presidential election, which Trump regularly and falsely asserts was stolen from him.

“President Donald Trump reportedly said Friday that he wants incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to "start the process" of firing large numbers of employees in the DNI's office”

CNBC

Politico quoted Trump saying, “I would say everything — he should look at everything and make a determination,” when asked what information he hopes Pulte will release.

CBS News reported that an ODNI official said Gabbard already reduced agency staff by nearly 50% and saved taxpayers nearly $1 billion in a part of an effort dubbed “ODNI 2.0.”

CBS News also said Gabbard has long said she was willing to be the last director of national intelligence if it was determined ODNI was unnecessary, and it quoted the ODNI official saying, “We look forward to working with Mr. Pulte and President Trump on additional initiatives to advance savings and root out deep state bad actors.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian’s live coverage described Trump’s broader political context as the Justice department sent a federal prosecutor to observe ballot processing in Los Angeles, as Trump continued to accuse California Democrats of “rigging” the results to win primary elections.