Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Gabe Gutierrez in Washington, and we begin with the latest turmoil around the Trump administration, with several cabinet secretaries appearing on Capitol Hill today,

defending the president's stalled agenda during what has become a politically tenuous moment for the

White House amid bipartisan blowback over a major cabinet shakeup, with a fierce Trump loyalist

getting elevated to the country's top intelligence position despite having no prior intelligence

experience. This morning, President Trump posting on social media that he's appointing a top

housing official, Bill Pulte, to serve as acting director of national intelligence to replace

Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month, she's stepping down to care for her husband as he battles cancer.

Pulte currently serves as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and in that role,

has targeted many of the President's perceived political enemies, making criminal referrals

against New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor

Lisa Cook, and then Congressman Eric Swalwell, all of them Democrats, or in Lisa Cook's case,

someone who was appointed by a Democrat. Pulte's promotion was met with swift condemnation

by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle due to concerns about his lack of qualifications.

I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

I'd be qualified to be DNI.

I don't know of any national security experience he has.

Mr. Palti has absolutely no intelligence background. He has no national security background.

The law was written to prevent this kind of appointment. I think it is stunning that President

Trump has chosen someone with literally zero national security or intelligence experience to be

the director of national intelligence

and someone who was shown not just a willingness but an enthusiasm to use inappropriately

gotten mortgage information to go after President Trump's opponents. That is a really chilling sign.

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