Pulte expected to temporarily overlap with his replacement as intelligence chief

By Kristen Holmes, CNN

(CNN) — Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte will not immediately leave his office after his more permanent replacement, Jay Clayton, is sworn in, according to a source familiar with the matter. Instead, the two men’s tenures at the top of the office will overlap for at least two weeks.

Clayton, who was confirmed by the Senate earlier this week, is expected to be sworn in as director of national intelligence next week, according to the source. Pulte is expected to stay in the office for at least two weeks after that, the source said, cautioning that the timeline could shift.

Pulte made a case to President Donald Trump directly that he wasn’t finished with the job and wanted to stay on to complete what he had set out to do, multiple sources told CNN. The combative and controversial housing executive, who had no prior national security experience, has made sharp staffing cuts to the intelligence community and played a role in declassifying certain documents related to Trump’s false claims of election fraud in 2020.

While Trump likes Pulte and was happy with his performance, including the staffing cuts, one source said the president also was fond of Clayton and understood that there was a desire to get him in the role quickly — including by senators who had initially balked at Trump’s decision to tap Pulte for the acting role.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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