President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would be “cancelling” the confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton to become the director of national intelligence, imperiling a push to reauthorize a critical intelligence-gathering authority that has lapsed.
It’s unclear precisely why Trump delayed Clayton’s confirmation hearing, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. The president rolled through a list of grievances in a social media post where — hours before the hearing’s start time — he said it would be canceled. Included were concerns that the president’s pick for acting DNI, Bill Pulte, wouldn’t get to serve in the job, and that Clayton’s successor in SDNY has not been confirmed.
“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” Trump said in an early morning Truth Social post, referring to his pick to replace Clayton. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”
Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., hours after the president’s comments on Truth Social, confirmed the hearing was scuttled.
“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today. Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly,” Cotton said in an X post. “While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”
A source familiar with McDonald’s nomination told MS NOW the White House has not yet sent it to the Senate, indicating it could take a considerable amount of time for him to be confirmed.
Any delay in Clayton’s confirmation could imperil the reauthorization of a critical intelligence authority, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The authority expired last week, meaning there is a lapse in authority for warrantless surveillance of communications that may involve national security threats.
Democrats have vowed to not reapprove the authority unless Pulte is removed from the DNI post. Critics view Pulte as a partisan attack dog with no intelligence experience who used his role atop a federal housing agency to gin up prosecutions of Trump’s enemies.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (L), and Jay Clayton, US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
Getty Images | Reuters
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, in a statement called Trump’s about-face an “extraordinary display of dysfunction.”
“The president’s latest intervention only underscores a simple reality: the biggest obstacle to resolving these issues has not been Senate Democrats or Senate Republicans,” he said. “It has been the chaos and confusion coming from the White House itself.”
Republicans, some of whom have also expressed concerns about Pulte, are racing to get Clayton confirmed so they can pass FISA.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the Senate will now “have to take it a day at a time til we get more clarity on kind of what the White House position is.”
Trump also asked for the controversial voter-ID bill known as the SAVE America Act to be attached to FISA reauthorization in exchange for his signature.
“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” he said in his post.
Democrats have said they will not support the legislation to change voting access.
The president also accused Democrats of breaking their deal to vote for FISA if Pulte is gone.
“[T]he Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA,” he said. “Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal.”
Some Republicans, however, vented frustration over how the president has handled the situation.
“Frankly, I was disappointed again that while Sen. Thune has very meticulously and skillfully managed a process that ends up with another Trump victory gets upended by an impulsive post of some sort,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., a Trump ally, said. “It’s frustrating, but it’s also not that abnormal these days.”
— CNBC’s Emily Wilkins, Karen James Sloan and Irit Skulnik contributed to this report.
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