NPR Topics: News
Trump appoints housing official as acting director of national intelligence
Bill Pulte has shown a willingness to go after the president's perceived enemies.
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Washington Examiner
House Judiciary Committee investigates sanctuary policies in San Diego and San Francisco
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Republican lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee are investigating the sanctuary policies in two major California cities, San Diego and San Francisco, that restrict those jurisdictions from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), joined by Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent personalized letters to the […]
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The Gateway Pundit
WATCH LIVE: CMS Administrator Dr. Oz Delivers White House Press Briefing – 1 PM ET
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. The post WATCH LIVE: CMS Administrator Dr. Oz Delivers White House Press Briefing – 1 PM ET appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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The New Republic
Trump Taps Housing Chief Behind Revenge Quests as Top Intel Official
President Trump has appointed Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence following Tulsi Gabbard’s resignation last week. Trump announced the move in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning, and said Pulte would keep his existing jobs as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as head of the Federal Housing and Finance Agency. “William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump posted. It’s an odd choice for the sensitive position, which concerns foreign intelligence and would appear to require a military or intelligence background, which Pulte doesn’t have. Instead, he has built up a reputation of targeting Trump’s political enemies using his authority at the housing agency, and has become unpopular among Republican lawmakers for working his way into Trump’s inner circle. Last month, Pulte drew the attention of Democrats in Congress for a suspicious charity donation that may have funneled money into Trump’s pockets, and for sharing an AI image with the president depicting Trump as Jesus Christ. Trump then posted the image on his Truth Social platform, causing a backlash from across the political spectrum, particularly from Trump’s supporters on the Christian right.Pulte will now be holding a sensitive intelligence position while juggling his other positions. It’s more evidence that Trump prizes loyalty above competence and experience, but could also indicate that Trump is planning a more sinister use of Pulte’s authority. Gabbard was involved in investigating election fraud conspiracies during her tenure as Director of National Intelligence, and Pulte could pick up where she left off. This story has been updated.
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Axios
Trump taps housing regulator turned MAGA enforcer as intelligence chief
President Trump tapped Bill Pulte, his unusually prominent Federal Housing Finance Agency director, as the new acting director of national intelligence.The big picture: Pulte will split time between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a massively important position for the country's national security — an extraordinary dynamic even against the backdrop of other officials wearing multiple hats.An unlikely strongman of Trump's campaign of political combat, Pulte built a MAGA name for himself laying the groundwork for accusations of fraud against multiple Trump foes.He also emerged as an integral figure in the president's squeeze on the Federal Reserve.Driving the news: Trump touted Pulte's "deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac" in a Tuesday post naming him as the new acting director.Former Director Tulsi Gabbard announced she'd depart the administration last month.This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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Politics - CBSNews.com
Trump names controversial housing official Bill Pulte as acting intel chief
President Trump on Tuesday announced he's tapping housing official Bill Pulte to serve as the acting director of national intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard.
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The Hill News
Dr. Oz to helm White House press briefing
Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, will host the White House press briefing on Tuesday, becoming the latest Trump administration official to fill in for press secretary Karoline while she is on maternity leave. Oz follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent…
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Axios
Why House Democrats are "closely" watching California's congressional primaries
House Democrats are looking to Tuesday's primaries in California as a major test of the anti-incumbency sentiment among their voters.Why it matters: This will be the first time in the 2026 election when multiple House Democrats in their 70s and 80s face off against primary insurgents who have hammered them for their lengthy tenures.California Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson, Doris Matsui and Brad Sherman — all 70 or older — are among those facing tough primary fights with younger Democratic challengers.Their Democratic colleagues are watching "all of them closely," one senior House Democrat said, as well as the LA mayor's race and the state's gubernatorial election."Just to see the anti-incumbent sentiment," another senior House Democrat told Axios.State of play: June 2 is California's jungle primary, in which all candidates for a given office run in one contest and the top two vote-getters — regardless of party — advance to a runoff in November.Often, that dynamic matches up the top-performing Democrat and Republican. However, in several deeply blue House districts, the incumbent is more likely to face another Democrat in the fall.This year, an unusually large number of incumbents are facing well-funded challengers who are going after their lengthy tenures and arguing that it is time for a new generation of Democratic leaders.These are the House races that Democrats have their eyes on:California's 4th District: Thompson, a 75-year-old member of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition first elected in 1998, is trying to fend off 35-year-old venture capitalist Eric Jones.Both Democrats have raised huge sums, with Thompson bringing in just under $3 million as of March 31 and Jones raising over $3.2 million over the same period, including a $364,000 personal loan.Jones has tried to harness anti-incumbency sentiment, with ads declaring that "too many Democrats have been in Washington so long, they're not up to the fight," and hitting Thompson as "corrupt" and "ineffective."Thompson, for his part, has played up his anti-Trump bona fides and hit Jones on his corporate background by depicting him as a "lapdog for big corporations."California's 7th District: 81-year-old Rep. Doris Matsui, who took office in 2005, is facing a stiff challenge from progressive former Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang, 41, who has been endorsed by the Sacramento Bee.Matsui has raised eyebrows with a red box on her website (a method campaigns use to signal super PACs) touting GOP candidate Zachariah Wooden, in what progressives say is a tactic to box Vang out of the runoff.Inclusion PAC — an outside group whose only listed donor, a local union, also donated to Matsui's campaign — has filed with the FEC to spend over $100,000 on ads promoting Wooden.This is another race defined by negative campaigning, with Vang's red box advocating "purely negative messaging against the incumbent."California's 32nd District: Rep. Brad Sherman, a 71-year-old who has been in office since 1997, is being challenged by Jake Levine, a 42-year-old former Biden administration official.Levine's campaign has, perhaps more than any other primary insurgent's, made Sherman's length of service a central issue in its messaging, running multiple ads targeting the incumbent's 30-year tenure.Sherman's campaign has largely ignored Levine — his red box encourages PACs not to mention him — and has focused on portraying him as a hard-charging, anti-Trump crusader who delivers for his district.Zoom out: Several incumbents below retirement age are also facing credible progressive primary challengers, including Reps. Ami Bera in the state's 3rd District and Jimmy Gomez in the 34th District.There are a slew of hotly contested open primaries as well, including to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the 11th District.In the 22nd District, State Assembly member Jasmeet Bains has the backing of House Democrats' campaign arm to take on GOP Rep. David Valadao, but first she has to defeat progressive Randy Villegas.
Center Left
Nebraska House Candidate Who Worked for Democrats’ ‘Preeminent Dark Money Hub’ Now Campaigns on Getting ‘Dark Money out of Politics’
Nebraska Democrat Denise Powell made tens of thousands of dollars working as a consultant for left-wing dark money groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund. Now, as a candidate for the state's Second Congressional District—and as some of her clients fend off a lawsuit from Nebraska's attorney general—she's campaigning on a pledge to "get dark money out of politics once and for all." The post Nebraska House Candidate Who Worked for Democrats’ ‘Preeminent Dark Money Hub’ Now Campaigns on Getting ‘Dark Money out of Politics’ appeared first on .
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