Pulte’s ODNI Appointment Shows Urgency of Reforming FISA, EPIC and Coalition Warn 

On Wednesday, EPIC joined a coalition of more than 70 civil society groups in urging Democratic leaders in Congress to block the extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) given President Donald Trump’s pick for acting Director of National Intelligence. 

Trump named Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to the highly sensitive position after Tulsi Gabbard resigned last week. Pulte has no experience in national security.  

As the coalition letter explained, Pulte now “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.” 

EPIC and the cosigned organizations urged Democrats to block the advancement of any FISA reauthorization or extension without robust reforms to protect Americans from being surveilled by their own government.  

Without such reforms, even removing Pulte as acting director would do little good. Trump could immediately install a likeminded replacement.  

EPIC has been working since long before Pulte was tapped to put pressure on Congress to reform Section 702 and ensure intelligence agencies cannot continue to abuse the law to infringe upon Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. 

To protect Americans and their most sensitive data, Congress must pass reforms that require a court order for U.S. person queries, close the data broker loophole, revise the law’s definition of “Electronic Communication Service Provider,” and strengthen its amici provisions.   

EPIC is a staunch advocate for the broad reform of Section 702 and previously published a blog series on reforming section 702— including this overview explaining why the law must be reformed.