Washington — Sen. Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he is optimistic the Senate can approve President Trump’s new nominee for director of national intelligence as soon as this week. His comments come after a standoff over the president’s disputed choice for acting intelligence chief helped lead to the lapse of a major surveillance authority late last week.
“We will get Clayton, I hope, confirmed as quickly as possible. We will then move very quickly to get FISA reauthorized,” the Virginia Democrat said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
On Thursday, Mr. Trump announced he was nominating Jay Clayton, now serving as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to become the next director of national intelligence following Tulsi Gabbard’s resignation from the post, which she said was prompted by her husband’s cancer diagnosis. The decision followed pushback from Democrats and some Republicans over the president’s earlier plan to install Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting national intelligence chief.
Democrats had refused to support an extension of the warrantless surveillance tool authorized under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while Pulte remained in line for the job. Then, only hours before the authority was due to expire, Mr. Trump unveiled Clayton as his permanent nominee. By that point, however, Congress was unable to act because the House had already adjourned.
The Senate is set to reconvene Monday, and Republican leaders have signaled they want to move swiftly on Clayton’s nomination. A confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee is scheduled for Wednesday.
Warner said that “my hope is, if we can get unanimous consent, we could even get him confirmed this week,” and added that he would like to see the president either ask Gabbard to remain in the role until Clayton is confirmed or allow her deputy to serve in the interim. Democrats are expected to resist renewing the surveillance authority unless Pulte is no longer under consideration.
The intelligence committee vice chairman outlined his concerns about Pulte at the helm, citing his lack of national security experience and the exposure he would have to the nation’s classified programs.
“Out of ignorance, he might give away information. I’ve had heads of our intelligence community say to us they’re terrified of showing him information. I’ve had foreign governments express huge concern,” Warner said. “One thing we know about Bill Pulte is he will do whatever Donald Trump says. He was able to weaponize private mortgage insurance information. Giving him the keys to the 18 intelligence agencies would be a disaster and a national security threat.”
Mr. Trump expressed exasperation over Democrats’ position on Sunday afternoon, writing in a post on Truth Social, “Why are the Dumocrats so afraid of of Bill Pulte at DNI???” In another post, the president said he’s opposed to reauthorizing the spy authority unless an elections bill he’s long pushed for is attached — which Democrats widely oppose.
As for Clayton, Warner said “I know Jay, I think he’s got the right temperament,” though he noted that he wants to question the nominee about maintaining election integrity.
Warner acknowledged that the FISA authority’s expiration poses a “national security risk.” But he argued it occurred because the president “did not put forward Clayton or anyone else that was legitimate until the clock had run out.”
Warner said “none of this needed to happen,” arguing that the expiration wouldn’t have occurred if the president would have announced Clayton as his pick “a few days earlier.”
“If there is something that happens, God forbid the responsibility lies with one man,” Warner said. “Donald Trump.”
