Trump nominates – President Donald Trump has nominated U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to become director of national intelligence, stepping into a tense confirmation process as he tries to settle backlash over his earlier acting pick, Bill Pulte, amid Senate resistance and high-stak
President Donald Trump moved quickly after naming Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, putting forward U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the job as lawmakers push back.
Trump announced that he is nominating Clayton. a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. to serve as director of national intelligence. Clayton now oversees the Justice Department’s office in the Southern District of New York. The nomination comes as Trump seeks to quell backlash over his earlier selection of an acting DNI that has met resistance in the Senate.
In a social media post, Trump wrote, “Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay,” adding, “I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.”
The White House is still looking to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who said in May that she was resigning as the nation’s top intelligence officer. Trump picked Bill Pulte, 38, as acting DNI, elevating a close ally who, as described here, has no experience in intelligence operations.
Pulte runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has drawn bipartisan criticism of his qualifications for an intelligence role. Democrats have also raised concerns about how he has used his lower-profile housing position, saying he has improperly gone after Trump’s adversaries.
That controversy has added pressure to Trump’s push to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. Section 702 is central to U.S. foreign intelligence gathering. and the political fight over surveillance authorities has become tangled with the question of who leads the intelligence apparatus overseeing it.
Any nominee for director of national intelligence must be confirmed by the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, praised Clayton, saying, “I think that he has a great reputation as being an incredibly competent manager.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, offered a sharper view of Trump’s acting choice. “Anything’s better than Pulte,” Van Hollen said, after Trump tapped Clayton.
The nomination puts Clayton at the center of a confirmation test—one that is no longer just about credentials. It is also about whether the Senate will accept a new leadership decision after its resistance to the acting DNI has already complicated the administration’s broader intelligence and surveillance agenda.
Jay Clayton director of national intelligence DNI Bill Pulte Federal Housing Finance Agency Tulsi Gabbard Section 702 FISA Senate confirmation John Thune Chris Van Hollen Securities and Exchange Commission Justice Department Southern District of New York