Mark Warner

Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, launched an effort Tuesday to prevent President Donald Trump and future commanders in chief from temporarily appointing officials like housing director Bill Pulte to the position of spymaster.

The Virginia Democrat introduced a bill that would require the president to follow a Senate-confirmed line of succession in case of a vacancy in the national intelligence director’s office. Trump named Pulte, who oversees the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has no national security experience, as acting head of the intelligence community earlier this month.

“Bill Pulte may be exactly who President Trump wants running the intelligence community, but that does not make him qualified for the job,” Warner said in a statement.

It’s unlikely the bill will succeed. Trump, who has a history of appointing unqualified officials, can veto it even if it passes the Senate and House.

The president would have to move through a list of candidates confirmed by the Senate before tapping one of his signature loyalists to act as spymaster without the chamber’s approval. He has defended picking Pulte, who has used his housing role to target Trump’s political opponents.

“He’ll do a very good job,” the president said earlier this month. “He’ll watch it closely, but Bill Pulte is very good, he’s very talented.”