Washington — Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado said on Sunday he’s worried that “Americans are at risk” with Bill Pulte serving as the Trump administration’s intelligence chief.  

“I’m just more worried day-to-day that Americans are at risk because we have someone who’s incompetent at the head of this agency,” Crow said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

President Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence, who assumed the role on Friday, has sparked intense pushback in Congress. After Tulsi Gabbard announced in May that she would resign from the post, Mr. Trump said he would install Pulte, a housing finance official, as acting DNI. But Democrats, and some Republicans, questioned the selection due to his lack of national security experience. 

The move ultimately prompted Democrats to oppose an extension of a warrantless overseas surveillance program earlier this month. And as Senate GOP leaders tried to bring an end to the impasse by moving to quickly confirm the president’s long-term pick for DNI — Jay Clayton — last week, the president abruptly called for the confirmation hearing to be canceled.

In addition to Pulte’s lack of national security experience, Democrats have railed against the pick for his role in investigations into Mr. Trump’s political foes. Crow, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, said he’s “obviously concerned that this is somebody who’s a political attack dog, and his single biggest qualification is that he’s loyal to Donald Trump and is willing to go after Donald Trump’s enemies.” But he said more immediately, he’s concerned about Americans’ safety.

“This is a really important position. This sits atop our intelligence agencies, and by law, Congress mandated that this person have significant intelligence experience because they have to make sure that we’re keeping Americans safe, which is not what Bill Pulte is capable of doing,” Crow said. 

Since Pulte’s selection, Democrats have declined to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which grants intelligence agencies broad authority to spy on overseas targets, causing the legal provision to expire earlier this month. Talks on extending FISA Section 702 were already strained, with some members of both parties pushing for stricter guardrails and arguing the program can scoop up Americans’ communications without a warrant. Intelligence officials say the program is essential to national security.

Asked whether Democrats have miscalculated, Crow said “not at all.”

“I know how important it is, but I’m unwilling to trade Americans’ constitutional rights, privacy and essential civil liberties for temporary extension to this program,” Crow said. “That’s what this administration is asking us to do. They say, ‘give up your constitutional rights, give up Americans’ rights and privacy, and we’ll just make sure we keep you protected.'” 

Crow added, “what about this administration would give us confidence that they’re going to follow the law?”

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who also appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said he thinks Senate Republicans’ plan to confirm Clayton as director of national intelligence, which was poised to end the impasse with Democrats on Section 702, “should happen.”

“I think Clayton should be the new DNI,” he said. 

Graham, who said he spent more than four hours with the president on Friday, outlined that Mr. Trump “was told that Democrats were not going to support FISA reauthorization, and he got mad and pulled out of the agreement.”

“They will, Mark Warner told me that there are enough votes to get FISA reauthorized, and I would urge President Trump to let Clayton testify,” Graham said, referring to the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

The South Carolina Republicans said he told the president “that any Democrat that shuts down FISA at a time of great peril for the United States is making a huge mistake — the same would be true of the Trump administration.”

“We’re playing with fire here, no matter what side does it,” Graham said. “America needs FISA up and running.”