Clayton’s confirmation followed a sharp, partisan fight that intensified after a contentious Senate hearing two weeks earlier.
WASHINGTON — The Senate has confirmed Jay Clayton to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies, installing a permanent director weeks after President Donald Trump moved to delay his nomination.
Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was approved in a 51-47 vote that broke along party lines. Republicans had originally aimed to confirm him in June, but Trump postponed Clayton’s hearing so his interim choice, Bill Pulte, could hold the role for several weeks after former director Tulsi Gabbard resigned.
Pulte, a former housing regulator with no background in intelligence work, drew concern from senators in both parties. He was serving in the post when Trump delivered a White House speech earlier this month in which he repeated his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost, and released classified documents that he said supported his arguments.
Pulte has also said he oversaw a downsizing of the national intelligence office, which serves as the coordinating center for U.S. intelligence agencies. In social media posts, he claimed the latest round of job cuts amounted to about a 30% reduction in staff compared with several weeks earlier. He has not provided details about the cuts, making the scope of any reductions difficult to verify immediately.
Democrats also raised objections to Clayton, whose nomination lost bipartisan backing after a tense hearing two weeks ago, when he repeatedly declined to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said at the close of the hearing that he was “bitterly disappointed” in Clayton, despite having initially spoken favorably about his nomination.
Warner said he would vote against Clayton, though he acknowledged Democrats were “between a rock and a hard place” with Pulte already serving in the job.
Trump revisits false claims about 2020 election
The Democratic pushback on Clayton comes as Trump has made revisiting 2020 a primary focus, repeatedly trying to cast doubt on that election and amplifying debunked theories about Biden’s win. Clayton said repeatedly at the hearing that the election was “certified” for Biden, declining to say outright that the Democrat won.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he thought Clayton’s performance was “abysmal,” and that “makes it much less likely that he will get Democratic votes.”
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Hours before the scheduled Senate vote on Clayton, Pulte released intelligence community documents from 2020 that described China’s capacity to interfere in the American political process as well as vulnerabilities in the election system.
The substance of the material was largely recycled and already known, but its disclosure is part of the broader Trump administration effort to raise concerns about the integrity of U.S. elections.
Clayton emphasized his experience
Clayton did not mention Pulte in the confirmation hearing. But he emphasized his own government and national security experience, attempting to assuage senators in both parties.
“I saw firsthand how a strong national security apparatus depends on decisive judgment, discipline, integrity, and effective communication and cooperation across different branches of the government,” Clayton said. “If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit to upholding these principles every day.”
Clayton also told senators that he had no involvement in Trump’s speech about the 2020 election.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who expressed frustration last month when the hearing was delayed, said that Clayton has a reputation for operating with “morality, decency and integrity” in his previous positions.
“Jay Clayton is a highly qualified nominee with a deep experience combating a wide range of national security threats,” Cotton said.
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