President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to be director of national intelligence and canceled a confirmation hearing while at the Group of Seven summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, writing that he would not approve reauthorization of the surveillance program known as FISA Section 702 without the voter-ID bill called the SAVE America Act, and saying he would not remove Clayton from his current role as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until his replacement, Jamie McDonald, is approved while Bill Pulte remains acting director of national intelligence.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the panel would proceed with Clayton’s confirmation hearing as scheduled and wrote on X, "Jay Clayton is a pending nominee before the Intelligence Committee. We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination." The committee's website still listed the hearing for 2:00 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Cotton planned to go forward and, "From there on, we'll just have to take it a day at a time," until senators get more "clarity" from the White House. Senate Republicans celebrated the nomination, with Thune saying Clayton has "a great reputation of being an incredibly competent manager," and Cotton calling him an "excellent choice" and vowing to process the nomination quickly.
The nomination had been fast-tracked because Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act had lapsed; a court order from last March certified the program could continue for another 12 months, and any bill to renew it needs 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans control 53 seats.
Lawmakers in both parties had opposed Pulte’s appointment because he lacks national security experience, and Democrats had said they would not renew the expired surveillance programs while he remained a pick. Critics have called Pulte a partisan "attack dog" with no intelligence experience and said he used his role atop a federal housing agency to gin up prosecutions of the president's political foes. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., called the president's about-face an "extraordinary display of dysfunction," and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., criticized what he called an "impulsive post."
Clayton currently serves as U.S. attorney in Manhattan and previously served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission after a career at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell; he has overseen high-profile cases including the indictment and arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Clayton had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, the committee was expected to vote on the nomination as soon as Thursday, and senators had hoped to have him sworn in by June 19.
Pulte's appointment has sparked pushback on Capitol Hill and stalled efforts to renew Section 702. He is best known for launching probes into several of the president's perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority, including investigations involving Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff and former Rep. Eric Swalwell; they have denied wrongdoing.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Trump's moves, saying, "Trump is twisting himself up in knots and jumping through hoops to make it impossible to reauthorize FISA right now, and he is embarrassing his Republican colleagues in the process." Top Democrats, including Schumer and Warner, were scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday after the president delayed Clayton's confirmation, and Warner said, "National security cannot be governed by social media post."
The director of national intelligence oversees 18 government intelligence agencies and serves as the principal adviser to the president, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council on intelligence matters. The next DNI would replace outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month that she will leave the role June 30.