Bill Pulte is poised to assume the role of acting director of national intelligence on Friday after President Trump halted Jay Clayton's nomination and prevented Clayton from testifying before a Senate confirmation panel.
Trump said he would not sign an extension of a key national security authority unless it includes passage of a controversial voter ID and proof-of-citizenship election bill, and he also said the Senate must confirm James McDonald, Clayton's would‑be replacement as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, before Clayton can be confirmed.
Democrats vowed to oppose any extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as long as Pulte remains the president's pick, and Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said, "Donald Trump treats our national security like a political bargaining chip."
Republicans and Democrats questioned Pulte's fitness for the job, citing his lack of national intelligence experience and actions as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he instigated probes into Trump opponents over alleged mortgage fraud; Pulte was tapped earlier this month after Tulsi Gabbard resigned in May.
Sen. John Thune signaled deep uncertainty over the fate of Clayton's nomination and said its future was essentially up to the White House, pointing to the White House when asked whether the nomination was being withdrawn and saying, "I've never been asked to slow a nomination down before."
Thune said he does not have "good answers for these questions" and added, "We are just executing or trying to execute on what they had asked us to," and he said he believes the president is "very committed to Bill Pulte."
Trump's early-morning Truth Social post Wednesday caught Republicans off-guard and frustrated GOP senators who worry he is undercutting their efforts to pass a legislative agenda and help the party's chances in the midterm elections; Thune said Trump has fumed over Senate Republicans' inability to pass the SAVE America Act, which he said does not have 50 votes much less the 60 needed to defeat a Democratic filibuster, and added, "We're going to do everything we can to work — as I've said before — in a constructive way on an agenda, but it's going to be an agenda that we can get the votes to pass."
The move also blew up a negotiated path forward on reauthorizing FISA surveillance after Senate Republicans said no to voter ID legislation, upended a careful compromise on the intelligence chief and plunged the GOP into disarray, and senators said they do not see a path to marshal 50 votes to move on a $350 billion reconciliation bill the president is seeking to fund the military.
Thune said he expects senators to be briefed early next week on a memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and that he needs "to learn more about" a $300 billion reconstruction fund included in the agreement.
Voices across the Capitol reacted: Vice President JD Vance urged trying to force votes on the election bill, Sen. Thom Tillis said Clayton was "on the brink" of a good hearing and warned the delay could imperil reauthorization of Section 702, and Sen. Bill Cassidy wrote that preventing Clayton from testifying "puts American lives at risk."