Acting spy chief Bill Pulte fires dozens of intelligence officials
Just over 50 career and political staff have left the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since Pulte took over, with six terminated and 45 sent back to their home agencies.
WHITE HOUSE — Donald Trump has mentioned the source (see cnbc) that Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has fired dozens of intelligence officials on a Truth Social post on July 3, 2026 at 6:50 PM EST.
Here is the full post (see truthsocial): “Acting DNI Pulte fires dozens of intelligence officials: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/03/acting-dni-pulte-fires-dozens-of-intelligence-officials-ms-now.html”
Pulte sent termination notices to dozens of intelligence officials on Thursday, MS Now reported (see cnbc). An intelligence official said the Trump administration was removing staff “who they believe are deep state” and who allegedly failed to provide complete intelligence pictures (see cnbc). The White House and the office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to requests for comment (see cnbc).
Just over 50 career and political intelligence staff have been removed from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since Pulte became acting director (see cbsnews.com). Six staff were terminated and 45 were sent back to their home agencies, according to sources familiar with the moves (see cbsnews.com). Among those pushed out was William Ruger, the deputy director of national intelligence for mission integration, who was placed on administrative leave (see cbsnews.com).
Trump tapped Pulte as acting spy chief in June after Tulsi Gabbard resigned in May (see cnbc). Trump said last month that he wanted Pulte to “start the process” of firing large numbers of intelligence employees (see cnbc). The office oversees 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the National Security Agency, and was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to help those agencies share information (see cbsnews.com).
Pulte, who also directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency, assumed the interim role on June 19 and gained access to the most sensitive U.S. intelligence data (see cnbc). His selection drew sharp bipartisan criticism, with Democrats and some Republicans questioning his lack of national security experience (see cbsnews.com). Trump nominated Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, as his permanent pick, but scuttled a fast-tracked confirmation hearing, keeping Pulte in the acting role (see cnbc).
In the last 30 days, 13 of 510 Trump posts were on topic “Government Reform.”
Source: Zenger real-time database of all Truth Social posts.
Note: Chart generated on July 3, 2026 at 6:59 PM EST
Source: Zenger analysis
Note: Table generated by https://zenger.news on July 3, 2026 at 6:59 PM EST