Good Tuesday evening. In this edition: Trump names Bill Pulte acting director of national intelligence; Blanche says "anti-weaponization" fund will not move forward; and C-SPAN marks 40 years of Senate coverage.
Plus, WHCD, Iran war and Jimmy Gomez.
National Intelligence
President Trump tapped Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence (DNI), placing him in charge of overseeing the nation's intelligence agencies.
"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," President Trump wrote on social media, announcing the selection.
Mr. Pulte will replace Tulsi Gabbard, who announced plans last month to leave the post at the end of June after her husband was diagnosed with cancer.
President Trump said Mr. Pulte will continue to lead FHFA while serving as acting DNI, a position created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to oversee the nation's 18 intelligence agencies and prepare the president's daily brief.
Mr. Pulte has no background in intelligence or military matters and is best known for using his position atop the regulatory agency to press for investigations into the president's political adversaries.
He has alleged mortgage fraud by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
Only the investigation into Ms. James resulted in criminal charges, though the case was later dismissed.
His selection was met with skepticism on Capitol Hill, which has no formal role in the appointment unless President Trump decides to nominate him to the position permanently.
Republicans and Democrats alike expressed concerns about his lack of relevant experience, while some lawmakers also questioned his willingness to use the powers of government to target political opponents.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, called the appointment "insulting" to the intelligence community.
"Mr. Pulte has absolutely no intelligence background. He has no national security background. The law was written to prevent this kind of appointment," he told reporters. "What he does have is a record of manipulating public information, even as the housing czar, to try to pursue attacks against President Trump's enemies."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the move should "send a shiver down the spine of everyone."
"At a time of growing threats around the world, Trump's choice makes one thing clear: he's not looking for independent intelligence; he's looking for political validation," he told reporters.
Senate Republicans also appeared wary of the appointment, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) saying Mr. Pulte would face a "lengthy road" to confirmation if the administration sought to install him permanently.
"We don't need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there," he told CNN. "I'll try and get more information about the current state of their thinking about that position, and again, if he's somebody they want in that position permanently, he's got, as you all know, a lengthy road ahead of him."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), chair of the Intelligence Committee, declined to comment on Mr. Pulte and noted that Ms. Gabbard will remain DNI for another four weeks.
"I look forward to implementing last year's intelligence authorization act with her," he said.
Asked again about Mr. Pulte, Sen. Cotton responded: "I have no observations on the matter."
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration is abandoning plans to create a controversial $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund that has faced bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
The fund — announced last month as part of the resolution of the president's lawsuit against the IRS — was intended to compensate people who say they were victims of "lawfare and weaponization" under past Democratic administrations.
"There were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them," Mr. Blanche told lawmakers. "The reasons for the fund … remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund."
GOP senators revolted after the fund was announced, forcing leaders to cancel planned votes on a high-priority reconciliation package to fund ICE and Border Patrol.
The administration on Monday said it would "abide by" a temporary court order halting payments from the fund, but Republican senators were seeking a more definitive statement that the program was being abandoned.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he had received assurances from the administration that the fund would not move forward and expressed hope that Mr. Blanche's testimony would provide additional certainty to lawmakers.
"I think his statements are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create the certainty that I hope all of our members and House members need as well in order for us to proceed on the reconciliation bill," he told reporters ahead of the testimony.
"But I'm not guaranteeing that happens yet. We're still continuing to have conservations with our members."
Mr. Blanche demurred when asked to put the decision in writing but said his testimony under oath should provide sufficient assurance that the fund has been abandoned.
"I'm not sure what that means to sign documents reversing — there's nothing to reverse," he told the House panel. "I think there'll be a transcript of what I say here, so that will be in writing."
Today marks 40 years since the U.S. Senate opened its chamber doors to television cameras for the first time, allowing C-SPAN to begin providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of "the world's greatest deliberative body."
Over the past four decades, C-SPAN has recorded 43,830 hours of Senate sessions, capturing 169,000 floor speeches from 359 senators, and 23,493 roll call votes.
The House opened its chamber to television cameras in 1979, but the Senate declined to follow suit until June 2, 1986, when Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) gaveled in the first session broadcast live to a national audience.
Sen. Al Gore (D-TN) delivered the first floor speech of the televised era during a session presided over by then-freshman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who remains the only incumbent senator still serving from that period.
Then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-KS) noted many senators had reservations but called it a "historic day" and predicted it would lead to a more efficient, transparent body.
"I think today we in effect sort of catch up with the 20th century," he said. "We've been the invisible half of the Congress the last seven years."
Forty years later, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) took to the floor to mark the anniversary and recognize C-SPAN's role in documenting the work of the chamber.
"C-SPAN urges its viewers to 'make up your own mind.' And for 40 years, C-SPAN has enabled the American people to make up their own minds about what we do here in the Senate," he said.
"It's helped countless American students see the legislative process in action. And it's ensured that what happens here is lost neither to the day's news cycle nor to history. And I trust that C-SPAN will continue to offer the American people a front-row seat to the Senate for many decades to come."
The White House Correspondents' Associationannounced it will host a second dinner on July 24 after its original event on April 25 at the Washington Hilton was disrupted by a gunman. "We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for," WHCA President Weijia Jiang said in a statement. She said details about the venue and programming will be released soon, but that the event will be a "more intimate gathering" with "significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures." President Trump praised the decision and said he will attend. "This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling," he wrote on social media.
Secretary of State Marco Rubiodefended the administration's decision to go to war with Iran and expressed optimism about the prospects of securing a deal to curb the country's nuclear program. "They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention, much less enter into discussions about," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, marking his first congressional testimony since the war began in late February. The secretary cautioned there is no guarantee an agreement acceptable to the U.S. will be reached. "But we will be able to engage them in a process to truly test the proposition of how far they're willing to go," he said.
The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) over allegations of sexual misconduct, CNN reported. The congressman acknowledged making mistakes but said he had not violated the law or any House ethics rules. "Years ago, I made personal mistakes outside my marriage that have caused real pain to my wife and family," he said in a statement to CNN. "Although my actions were consensual in nature and haven't violated the law or House ethics rules, that doesn't diminish the impact that these mistakes have made on those I care about the most."
For your radar…
Elections reporters join C-SPAN on Tuesday night to discuss the results of primaries from California, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN at 8pm ET.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN3 at 10am ET.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee. Watch LIVE online at 10am ET.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee. Watch LIVE online at 10am ET.
