The Senate Intelligence Committee voted on July 21 to advance the nomination of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next director of national intelligence (DNI).
The committee voted 9–8 to give a favorable recommendation to Clayton, who currently serves as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Clayton received support from all of the Republican members of the committee, while all of the Democratic members voted against his nomination.
Some Democrats had initially indicated that they might vote for Clayton following Trump’s nomination of the U.S. attorney in June. However, the Democratic members of the committee criticized Clayton over his answers after he was repeatedly pressed to answer whether President Joe Biden won the 2020 election during his hearing on July 15.
Following the committee’s advancement of Trump’s DNI pick during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the nomination will move to a floor vote in the Senate. Democrats are not expected to allow Republicans to speed up the full Senate vote despite pushing for acting DNI Bill Pulte to be quickly replaced.
After the committee advanced Clayton’s nomination, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) described Clayton as a highly qualified nominee with experience addressing a wide range of national security threats.
Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 15. He told the committee that he would work to increase trust in the DNI office, the federal government, and the intelligence community if confirmed.
During his confirmation hearing, Clayton was criticized by the committee’s Democratic senators over his prior comments expressing concerns regarding U.S. election integrity and for not answering some of their repeated questions regarding the 2020 presidential election.
Clayton was also questioned by the committee’s Democratic senators regarding the Southern District of New York’s decision to subpoena journalists at The New York Times. The journalists were subpoenaed by Clayton’s office after publishing a report on alleged safety concerns regarding the new Air Force One aircraft that cited unnamed sources.
The committee’s Democratic senators described the subpoenas as a “flagrant attack on journalists.” Clayton responded by saying his office followed its protocols and maintaining that he is committed to defending the First Amendment and the role of the press.
The DOJ has said the investigations are targeting those who allegedly leaked classified information, not the reporters.
In addition to his service as a U.S. attorney, Clayton previously served as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission from May 2017 until December 2020 during Trump’s first administration.
Clayton was nominated to lead the DNI office on June 11 after former DNI Tulsi Gabbard announced in May that she would be resigning to support her husband, Abraham Wilson, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
While Trump initially called for the Senate to quickly confirm Clayton as intelligence chief, he canceled Clayton’s initial Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on June 17. Trump accused Democrats of breaking an agreement to approve an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in return for the removal of Pulte from his position as acting DNI.
Clayton’s potential confirmation by the Senate could provide lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle with an opportunity to renew FISA, which lapsed on June 12. FISA allows the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance on non-Americans living abroad.
Trump, however, previously said he would be against a FISA extension if it did not come with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The legislation, also known as the SAVE America Act, would require voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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