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Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Bill Pulte used what are expected to be his final hours in the role to complete a fifth round of layoffs.
Pulte said the layoffs will have resulted in a 30 percent reduction of staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) carried out over a tenure that lasted little more than one month.
“We are, this morning, Executing a 5th and Near Final Round of TERMINATIONS, an approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago. The Intelligence Community must protect the American people, NOT the political whims of the bloated and corrupt elite class,” Pulte wrote on the social platform X.
Jay Clayton, a current U.S. attorney who also served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during President Trump’s first term, is expected to be confirmed as DNI.
During a Monday night procedural vote, Clayton secured the backing of all 51 Republicans present for the vote, suggesting he will easily secure the nomination in a slated Tuesday night vote.
Trump made clear he hoped Pulte would carry out widespread firings even if only in the role on an acting basis.
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said of ODNI.
“You’re less shackled,” he added about Pulte leading the office temporarily. “It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time.”
“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump said. “Because, if he reduced the size, in conjunction with me … and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in … he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in.”
Pulte, who retained his role as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), used the position to refer four Trump foes for prosecution for alleged mortgage fraud.
He has no national security or intelligence experience, leading senators on both sides of the aisle to call him unqualified.
Pulte’s layoffs come after already significant cuts at ODNI.
His predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard, claimed she had fired 500 people, or about 30 percent of the agency’s workforce. Her moves were aimed at cutting staffing levels in half at the office responsible for coordinating the constellation of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies.
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