June 3, 2026
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Democratic Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Dick Durbin
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Jamie Raskin
Ranking Member
House Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Mark Warner
Vice Chairman
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The Honorable Jim Himes
Ranking Member
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Dear Democratic Leaders:
The undersigned civil liberties, civil rights, democracy, and good governance groups urge you to halt advancement of any Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) extension of warrantless surveillance powers given the urgent crisis presented by Donald Trump’s selection of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Pulte currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). In that role, Pulte has weaponized his power and access to sensitive information held by the government to drive wrongful, political prosecutions of Trump’s political opponents. This includes New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, and Senator Adam Schiff. He has additionally used his perch to inappropriately publicly attack then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, eviscerate internal oversight, and expand his own power.
Now-acting DNI Pulte has no known experience conducting, much less overseeing, critical surveillance activities. Nonetheless, he has the power to attack the pillars of democracy — by misusing surveillance, pushing spying agencies he oversees to conduct unlawful spying or otherwise allowing it, providing politically motivated surveillance directly to Trump, and even declassifying or leaking warrantlessly acquired information about those who would challenge the administration. Pulte is currently under investigation by the Government Accountability Office over whether he misused his authority at FHFA, where he continues to serve as director.
This is a terrifying threat to Americans and the very foundation of American democracy.
Yet Pulte’s removal, should it occur, is simply not enough, because his appointment demonstrates that Donald Trump was willing to choose him in the first place. Even if someone else became DNI tomorrow, it would do nothing to prevent Trump from replacing that person with another henchman.
The best immediately available way to stop such weaponization of surveillance has been debated at length, and has broad, bipartisan support in both chambers: requiring CIA, NSA, and FBI agents to obtain warrants before knowingly searching through FISA information about people in the United States. Indeed, the primary reason the House and Senate have not been provided opportunities to vote on this protection seems to be the likelihood that this “backdoor search loophole” fix would pass if it reached the floor.
While the opportunity to force change is difficult without a gavel, Democrats have extraordinary leverage to avert disaster here. Not only does Republican Leadership need Democrats to advance legislation in the Senate, they also need Democrats in the House. And unlike many other issues, there are clearly votes Democrats can count on from Republicans to enact real warrant requirements that would meaningfully protect our democracy.
Acting DNI Pulte cannot be allowed to take power. And given someone like Bill Pulte can become DNI under these circumstances, no intelligence agency chief should be allowed to rummage through such sensitive information without first obtaining independent review by getting a warrant from a court.
We therefore urge you not to advance any FISA reauthorization without robust warrant protections, and to oppose at every step Trump’s effort to install Pulte or any other henchman in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Anything short of that serves to lock the future of the United States behind authoritarianism.
Sincerely,
Advocacy for Principled Action in Government
Arab American Institute
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Center for Democracy & Technology
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Common Cause
Defending Rights & Dissent
Demand Progress
Democracy Defenders Action
Due Process Institute
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Faithful Voter Project
Fight for the Future
Free Press Action
Government Information Watch
Indivisible
Indivisible Eastside
Indivisible EMF — Edgewood, Milton, & Fife, WA
Indivisible Santa Fe
Japanese American Citizens League
Lawyers for Good Government
Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy
Make the Road States
MOVI, Money Out Voters In
Muslim Advocates
Muslims for Just Futures
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Organization For Women
National Women’s Law Center Action Fund
Our Revolution
P Street
People For the American Way
People Power United
Project On Government Oversight
Public Citizen
Restore The Fourth Action
RootsAction
Southern Poverty Law Center
Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC)
UltraViolet Action
Walking To Fix Our Democracy
Whistleblower & Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts
Win Without War
X-Lab
cc: Democratic Members of the House and Senate