WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday barred Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton from showing up to his confirmation hearing just hours before an eager Senate was to fast-track his nomination.
Trump made the surprise demand over Truth Social in his latest dustup with Senate Republicans, insisting instead they first confirm Clayton’s successor as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In a rare flex, Republicans initially sought to forge ahead with the hearing in a rush to get Clayton in place to succeed outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard — and avoid installing federal housing chief Bill Pulte into the role on an interim basis.
But once it was clear the president wouldn’t let Clayton attend, the hearing was called off. It appears Pulte will be in place by the end of this week to lead the US intelligence agencies temporarily.
“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters earlier Wednesday that Cotton was “planning to proceed” despite an earlier threat from Trump, who in a Truth Social post called for the hearing to be nixed.
Cotton had noted that “unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination,” the hearing would commence.
The president had before drawn a red line that only when Sullivan and Cromwell partner Jamie McDonald was “approved” as Clayton’s replacement in the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office could the DNI nom be considered.
The president also said he would not “approve” of a bill reauthorizing one of the government’s premier foreign spying powers until the GOP’s voter ID bill passes Congress — the latter of which doesn’t stand a chance of clearing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster with Democratic support.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lapsed on Friday after Senate Democrats blocked a short-term extension of the authority — in protest of Pulte’s appointment as acting head of the intelligence agency to fill in for outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters that “702 is going to stay dark, and that’s a danger to the country during the World Cup, where we have a lot of people here from around the world, and where we’ve got regimes like the Iranian regime mad at us.”
“We basically blinded our intelligence community, because 60% of the president’s daily brief comes from 702, by tying all these together, and then also saying, ‘Well, you got to pass the Save America Act,’ which we know we don’t have the votes for,” Cornyn also said. “We’ve got to find a solution.”
The US House of Representatives also voted down FISA reauthorization, with Democrats expressing concerns over Pulte, who has no relevant national security experience and has been serving as Federal Housing Finance Agency director since March 2025.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters it was “a colossal mistake” for the president to have intervened at a point when some Senate Democrats would have been inclined to support the nominee and stop Pulte from assuming the acting DNI role.
“We were on the brink of getting 702 reauthorized, and then they put this sycophant Pulte in place for an interim job,” Tillis said Wednesday. “Now we’re in a posture to where it may be the reason why [FISA Section] 702 doesn’t get reauthorized.”
Trump nominated Clayton to succeed Gabbard hours before both chambers of Congress would deliberate on FISA last Thursday, but the House has since gone on a one-week recess after failing to pass their bill.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, noted that there had been “a productive negotiation” with the White House beforehand, as Republican senators were also indicating they wouldn’t support Pulte remaining in the position even on a temporary basis.
Clayton previously served as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2020. Before that, he was a partner at Sullivan and Cromwell, a highly regarded law firm among Wall Street types that handles white-collar and financial crime cases.
Both Thune and Cotton had backed the president’s pick in Clayton, while declining to praise Pulte’s appointment.
The Senate Republican leader had also signalled that the upper chamber would vote on FISA reauthorization as soon as enough votes are secured, without commenting on Trump’s request that the SAVE America Act be attached.
Gabbard will depart the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on June 19 after announcing she was stepping down to help her husband while he’s being treated for a rare bone cancer.
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