Trump sabotages Senate bid to fast-track Clayton as DNI, hearing canceled

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will “cancel” the confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to become director of national intelligence, jeopardizing an effort to reauthorize the outdated critical intelligence-gathering authority.

It’s not entirely clear why Trump is late Clayton’s confirmation hearingIt is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. The president listed a list of grievances in a social media post and said the hearing would be canceled hours before it was due to start. This included concerns that Bill Pulte, the president’s pick for acting DNI, would not be able to fill the role and that Clayton’s successor at the SDNY had not yet been confirmed.

“Regarding the confirmation of our Great Patriot Jay Clayton, we are canceling the Senate RE:DNI hearing today and will not proceed until Jamie McDonald is confirmed to be the Attorney General of the United States,” Trump said in an early morning statement. he said. Real Social Post referring to Clayton’s replacement. “Meanwhile, Bill Pulte will remain Acting Director of National Intelligence.”

Senate Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., confirmed the hearing had been canceled hours after the president’s comments on Truth Social.

“It is regrettable that the President directed Jay Clayton not to attend today’s confirmation hearing. Mr. Clayton is, as the president has repeatedly said, a patriot and a highly qualified candidate,” Cotton said. he said. an X post. “Although today’s hearing has unfortunately been postponed, I look forward to continuing his confirmation in the near future.”

A source familiar with McDonald’s nomination tells MS NOW that the White House has not yet sent the nomination to the Senate, which could take quite a while for it to be confirmed.

Any delay in Clayton’s confirmation could jeopardize the reauthorization of a critical intelligence authority known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The authorization expired last week, meaning the authority to conduct unauthorized surveillance of communications that could pose national security threats is over.

Democrats have vowed not to reaffirm the authority unless Pulte is removed from his post as DNI. Critics view Pulte as a partisan attack dog with no intelligence experience who has used his role atop a federal housing agency to expedite prosecutions of Trump’s enemies.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, called Trump’s about-face “an extraordinary display of dysfunction” in a statement.

“The president’s latest intervention only underscores a simple truth: The biggest obstacle to solving these problems has not been Senate Democrats or Senate Republicans,” he said. “It was chaos and confusion coming from the White House itself.”

Republicans, some of whom have voiced 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 do this every day until we get more clarity on what the White House’s position is.”

Trump also requested that the controversial voter ID bill, known as the SAVE America Act, be included in the FISA reauthorization in exchange for his signature.

“So, to add some intrigue, for the Good of the Nation and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA unless the SAVE AMERICA ACT goes with it,” he said.

Democrats have said they will not support legislation that would change voting rights.

The president also accused Democrats of breaking their agreement to vote for FISA if Pulte leaves.

“[T]Republicans moved so quickly with the hearings of current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Grand Jay Clayton, that Pulte would be gone before Democrats voted for FISA. Now, Dumocrats say they will vote against FISA – So Republicans finally fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Agreement.”

But some Republicans expressed disappointment in how the president handled the situation.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed once again that Sen. Thune has so meticulously and skillfully managed a process that resulted in another Trump victory only to have it upended by some impulsive post,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-D., a Trump ally. “It’s annoying, but it’s also not that abnormal these days.”

— CNBC’s Emily Wilkins, Karen James Sloan And Irit Skulnik contributed to this report.