President Trump unexpectedly announced on Wednesday that he was delaying the nomination of Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence. This move came just hours before Clayton was scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing. Trump stated that he would not proceed with Clayton's confirmation until James McDonald was approved by the Senate to succeed Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) need to approve the nominee for SDNY.
The President further complicated matters by linking Clayton's confirmation and the reauthorization of FISA Section 702 to the passage of his proposed SAVE America Act. This act, described as a Republican bill for photo ID and proof-of-citizenship for voting, is considered a non-starter for Democrats and some Republicans, and has previously failed in the Senate. Trump's demand effectively halted a bipartisan deal that aimed to quickly confirm Clayton, thereby preventing Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no national security experience, from becoming acting DNI.
Clayton's swift confirmation was intended to unlock the reauthorization of FISA Section 702, a crucial surveillance program that had expired last week. Democrats had opposed renewing FISA with Pulte in the acting DNI role, and Republicans had sought a quick confirmation for Clayton to avoid Pulte taking over. With Trump's intervention, it became almost certain that Clayton would not be confirmed this week, or possibly ever. Bill Pulte, currently a federal housing regulator, was slated to assume the acting DNI role on Friday if Clayton was not confirmed by then. Trump's actions have created significant discord with Senate Republicans and Democrats alike, as they scrambled to understand and respond to the sudden shift.
