US attorney Jay Clayton faces Senate Intelligence hearing for DNI
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President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies will get a second chance in the Senate on Wednesday, weeks after the president sabotaged his first confirmation hearing.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, currently serving in the Southern District of New York, was nominated by Trump as the permanent candidate for Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) following the departure of former DNI Tulsi Gabbard last month.
He will try his hand at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Jay Clayton is a patriot and an extremely qualified candidate,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark. In X.
“In serving the people of New York, Mr. Clayton has deep experience combating a wide range of national security threats,” he continued. “I look forward to his hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow.”
But Clayton, who previously served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump’s first term, was caught in the eye of a political storm last month that swept through the Senate, of which he is no part.
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And if he survives that process (many Democrats still serving in the Senate voted to confirm him as SEC chairman), lawmakers are hopeful it will pave a way to reinstate an important counterterrorism tool.
Democrats were furious with Trump for appointing Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting DNI; They argued that he was unqualified and could weaponize the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies on Trump’s orders.
“Why is Mr. Pulte being promoted? Beyond being some sort of blatant insult to the intelligence community, it’s ridiculous that he can suddenly do the mortgage banking job and the intelligence job at the same time,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said at the time.
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Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte walks in front of the White House on September 2, 2025 in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
In response, they refused to support the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the nation’s most important counterterrorism tool, causing the program to slowly fade into obscurity.
Clayton’s nomination was seen by Democrats as an olive branch from the administration to ensure that Pulte never stepped into the DNI role and that FISA reauthorization could begin anew.
But then Trump blasted the proceedings, passionately demanding a halt to the hearing Real Social post.
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He argued that Democrats had “broken the agreement” with FISA and that the nomination would not move forward until James McDonald was confirmed as Clayton’s replacement in the Southern District. And to “add some intrigue,” Trump demanded Republicans tie the RELIEVE America Act to FISA, effectively killing the legislation for Democrats.
“It’s not complicated, actually, Republicans fell into a trap,” Trump said at the time.
