GOP leaders are entering crisis mode with just days to go before the authority for the critical surveillance power expires with no clear path to a deal — except ditching Pulte.

Later Tuesday, Trump appeared to double down on his decision, stunning intelligence staffers and lawmakers by announcing Pulte would start his role as acting DNI on June 19. The White House had told Tulsi Gabbard and her team that he would take over after her planned departure at the end of the month.

Yet Trump made a clear effort on Wednesday to appease rattled Republicans on Capitol Hill. He wrote in a Truth Social post that he is seeking a permanent director with national security experience – in an apparent reference to specific complaints from GOP lawmakers about Pulte’s resume.

He also urged Congress to buy him some time to make that pick by approving a short-term extension of the surveillance authority that would otherwise expire Friday.

“FISA 702 is very important to our Military, and keeping the American People safe, especially during the World Cup and America250 Celebrations. If nothing is done, this important Law will expire this week. I am asking Congress to send me a short-term extension of FISA to provide time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent Head of the Agency,” he wrote.

But privately, Trump also indicated he would not remove Pulte just to appease Democrats. Some allies had indicated to Trump that he would look weak if he named a permanent DNI just to get an extension on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA.

Republican lawmakers and Trump advisers had been having conversations about how to move forward without Pulte, including at one point floating the idea of extending Gabbard’s tenure.

But Pulte has built his own team of MAGA loyalists who were lobbying the president behind closed doors. Pulte has also continued to pitch himself to Trump directly, and a White House official said he spent time with the president over the weekend.

Inside the Capitol, Pulte has had few defenders on either side of the aisle. Privately, many GOP lawmakers remain baffled by Trump’s move to promote him. Some believe Trump’s decision came at the worst possible time for party leaders as they navigate tiny margins — and emboldened lame-duck members — in the final months before the midterms.

“Everyone needs to be a grown-up,” Fitzpatrick said, adding on Pulte: “I don’t think he ever should have been put in.”

Yet GOP leaders are not sure whether the White House is getting the message.

Johnson, whose tenure has been marked by deference to Trump, has had multiple private conversations with the president to discuss the matter, including the lengthy sit-down earlier Tuesday. Johnson has been tight-lipped about Pulte himself, but he made clear that he worries that Democrats’ protest could shut down the FISA powers.

“The Democrats now have taken a hostage on this, and they’re suggesting that they might not advance it. We’re hoping they can get that together. We cannot allow FISA to go dark. It’d be a dangerous prospect, and I think everybody who is reasonable understands that,” Johnson said Tuesday.

There had previously been cautious optimism on Capitol Hill that lawmakers could pass a bipartisan agreement to extend Section 702 of FISA for three years — but Democrats revolted after Trump named Pulte, a housing official with a lack of demonstrated national security experience, to the role of as acting DNI. Democrats are protesting the surveillance measure over Pulte’s role, refusing to provide votes that GOP leaders need to send the bill to Trump’s desk.

Even Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who rarely suggests public directives for the White House, has been clear it needs to address the Pulte issue or face a mounting problem over FISA. And on Tuesday, he offered a glimpse of a potential solution.

Some Republicans believe that enough centrist Democrats will back down in the game of chicken by the Friday evening deadline to extend the surveillance authority. But Democrats insist they’re not bluffing.

At a closed-door meeting of House Democrats on Tuesday morning, Rep. Jim Himes — the party’s top member on the intelligence committee — implored his colleagues not to cave if Pulte remains in his position, according to a person familiar.

This story has been updated with additional developments.