Jay Clayton to take charge as US Director of National Intelligence after Bill Pulte's exit

In a social media post on Saturday, Pulte said he had spoken about the transition with President Donald Trump and Clayton.

Trump selected Pulte as the interim director following the resignation of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, though the move drew criticism from Republican lawmakers, who maintained that the Federal Housing Finance Agency chief lacked the necessary national security credentials for the role.

"After speaking with President Trump and Jay Clayton, we have decided the DNI transition will take place this coming Monday," Pulte wrote on X, adding, "I am eternally grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to serve as Director of National Intelligence, while he completed historic declassifications and we right-sized the ODNI."

https://x.com/pulte/status/2083599098859446369?s=20

Pulte also praised Clayton, writing, "I have no doubt that Jay will do a tremendous job. I have offered Jay my complete and total support as he transitions to take over this incredible agency!"

CNN reported earlier this week that Pulte had been expected to stay on at the office for at least two weeks after Clayton's swearing-in, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Multiple sources told CNN that Pulte had personally pressed Trump to let him remain longer, contending that he had still not finished his work at the head of the intelligence agency.

Clayton inherits a reduced office whose authority and relevance stand at a historic low.

Pulte, a combative and controversial housing executive without previous national security experience, carried out sharp staffing reductions across the intelligence community and took part in the declassification of certain documents linked to Trump's false claims of election fraud in 2020.

According to CNN, Pulte travelled with the President aboard Air Force One on Friday from Camp David to Bedminster, New Jersey, where the President is spending the weekend. The network added that CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who recommended Clayton for the post and helped shape Pulte's period in office, was seen speaking with the President before the two left Camp David.

One key aim of Pulte's brief time in the role was the declassification of sensitive materials concerning past elections and the amplification of Trump's long-standing false claims of voter fraud.

According to CNN, Pulte accelerated the sharp staffing cuts ordered by Trump, measures that critics said would weaken the intelligence community.

However, the report noted that there remains broad bipartisan consensus that the office had grown too large. Some Republican Senate Intelligence Committee staffers, initially uneasy about Pulte's appointment and inexperience, later expressed satisfaction with the reductions in bureaucracy he had achieved. (ANI)