WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today introduced the Do Not Interfere in our Intelligence Act of 2026 (DNII Act of 2026), legislation that would strengthen the existing line of succession if the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) were vacated and ensure that leadership of the intelligence community remains in the hands of experienced, Senate-confirmed national security officials.
“Bill Pulte may be exactly who President Trump wants running the intelligence community, but that does not make him qualified for the job. After pulling his own selected nominee from the confirmation process, the president chose to install a political ally with no intelligence background, no national security credentials, and a record of using government power to pursue political grievances as the country’s Director of National Intelligence. The intelligence community should be led by experienced, Senate-confirmed professionals – not by whoever happens to be most willing to carry out the president’s whims and vendettas,” said Sen. Warner. “And if there is an intelligence failure, a missed threat, or a national security crisis on Bill Pulte’s watch, Americans will pay the price, and President Trump will be to blame. He made the deliberate choice to pass over qualified national security professionals and put an unqualified loyalist in charge.”
Pulte currently serves as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has no professional intelligence or national security background. His appointment as Acting DNI bypassed multiple Senate-confirmed officials across the intelligence community with extensive experience overseeing intelligence operations, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and national security matters, while the confirmation process for President Trump’s own DNI nominee, Jay Clayton, has been put on indefinite hold following the president’s decision to withdraw Clayton from a scheduled confirmation hearing.
The Do Not Interfere in our Intelligence Act of 2026 clarifies and adds to the existing line of succession for the Director of National Intelligence. Under existing statute, in the event the DNI position becomes vacant, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI) is supposed to become Acting DNI. The DNII Act strengthens this line of succession to make clear who is qualified to serve as Acting DNI by requiring the president to choose someone who was appointed and confirmed by the Senate and serves in an office within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. If no Senate-confirmed official remains within ODNI, the president would be required to select a Senate-confirmed official from elsewhere in the intelligence community.
Specifically:
- If the DNI position is vacant, the PDDNI becomes Acting DNI.
- If both the DNI and PDDNI positions are vacant, the president may choose from among the following Senate-confirmed officials within ODNI: Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, General Counsel, and Intelligence Community Office of Inspector General.
- If all of those positions are vacant, the president may choose from among the following Senate-confirmed intelligence officials: Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), CIA General Counsel, CIA Inspector General, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Analysis, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), NRO Inspector General, Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), and NSA Inspector General.
Under the DNII Act, an individual without intelligence or national security experience, such as Bill Pulte, would not be eligible to bypass Senate-confirmed intelligence leaders and assume control of the intelligence community.
Read the full bill text here.
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