IC Oversight & Policy — 2026-06-26

Legal Experts Challenge Pulte Authority as Acting DNI Under Federal Vacancies Reform Act

BLUFPulte's appointment carries genuine legal vulnerability, but a federal court ruling it unlawful within twelve months remains unlikely, channeling dismissed employees toward MSPB reinstatement as the more viable remedy.

Lawfare and The Atlantic both report that Pulte's appointment as acting DNI rests on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act rather than the DNI's own succession statute, which states that Principal Deputy DNI Aaron Lukas "shall" serve when the position is vacant 12. Lawfare notes the DNI statute's mandatory "shall" language and post-1998 enactment have led some legal scholars to conclude it supersedes the FVRA, a reading DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel rejected in 2019 when it advised the FVRA remained available to fill the position 2. Pulte has already dismissed several senior ODNI officials, including William Ruger 1. Zachary West, a former DOJ official now at Protect Democracy, told The Atlantic that employees cannot be lawfully terminated by an official lacking the authority to hold the position 1.

Analysis
Dismissed ODNI career officials with civil-service protections have grounds to challenge their terminations through Merit Systems Protection Board reinstatement claims on the theory that an unlawfully appointed official lacks removal authority, but a court ruling Pulte's appointment invalid within twelve months is unlikely. The 2019 OLC opinion, DC Circuit precedent treating FVRA and officer-specific succession statutes as concurrent alternatives, and the Supreme Court's 1898 acting-officer doctrine collectively sustain that assessment. Moderate confidence reflects convergence across those three bodies of authority and the absence of a circuit split compelling Supreme Court review. The MSPB route gives dismissed employees a faster remedy that sidesteps the constitutional question. The White House could moot any pending challenge by expediting Jay Clayton's confirmation before courts reach the merits.

2 sources

Trump Has a Bill Pulte Problem - The Atlantic
Pulte's Appointment Shows Flaws in the Vacancies Act - Lawfare