Cassidy: Pulte not 'competent' for intelligence director role

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) speaks as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's 2026 health care agenda, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 4, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte does not appear to be "competent" to serve as acting director of national intelligence, outgoing Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said during an interview Tuesday at CNBC's CEO Council Summit. Cassidy, who recently failed to qualify for a runoff in Louisiana's Republican primary after President Donald Trump endorsed one of his challengers, Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La, said his Senate colleagues were taken aback by the president's appointment of Pulte as spy chief on Tuesday morning. "Nothing here suggests he's competent in the job for which he's been appointed," Cassidy said. "That's just kind of the kind of conversation with my colleagues, like OMG." "He has no military background, no intelligence background, he's going to ... keep his other job, and he's not even sure he has a security clearance," Cassidy said. Intelligence community veterans warned that Pulte is ill-prepared for the job and could risk the quality of U.S. intelligence while using the perch to take aim at Trump's domestic foes.