Senate clears way for Trump's top spy as key anti-terror program remains in limbo
Senate Advances Jay Clayton's Nomination to Lead U.S. Intelligence Community
By Maine News Now Staff
Washington — The U.S. Senate moved forward Monday night with the nomination of Jay Clayton to serve as the nation's next Director of National Intelligence, a vote that also sets the stage for potential action on a lapsed counterterrorism surveillance program.
The procedural vote to advance Clayton's nomination passed 51-43, largely along partisan lines. A final confirmation vote is expected Tuesday.
Clayton previously chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during President Donald Trump's first term. His nomination follows the sudden departure of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down to care for her husband as he battles cancer.
The path to Monday's vote was not smooth. Clayton narrowly cleared the Senate Intelligence Committee on a 9-8 vote, with only Republicans supporting him after a contentious hearing.
During that hearing, Democrats pressed Clayton on several matters, including who won the 2020 presidential election, his knowledge of Gabbard's reported raid on election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, and subpoenas he had authorized against New York Times reporters while serving as the top federal prosecutor in New York's Southern District. Those subpoenas were voluntarily withdrawn by the Department of Justice last week, two days after the committee approved his nomination.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, called on Democrats to support Clayton's confirmation, saying he expected them to resist.
"One might think that we'd be seeing some bipartisanship from Democrats on this nominee," Thune said on the Senate floor. "But Democrats are playing the same partisan games with this qualified nominee as they have for so many of President Trump's picks."
Thune also tied the nomination fight to a separate national security issue, criticizing Democrats for what he described as allowing a key counterterrorism tool to lapse.
"It's a funny thing because Democrats have made no secret of their disdain for the current acting Director of National Intelligence," Thune said. "In fact, Democrats were so worked up over the president's temporary choice for this position, they allowed our nation's most important counterterrorism tool to go dark for the first time ever."
Thune was referring to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which authorizes the government to collect communications of foreign targets who are believed to be located outside the United States. The program has been used to disrupt terrorist plots, including what officials have described as a thwarted mass-casualty attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria.
Section 702's authorization expired recently, and new court approvals for surveillance under the program have stalled, leaving intelligence agencies without the legal authority to initiate new collection. Lawmakers from both parties had been negotiating a reauthorization deal, but the talks fell apart.
The breakdown came after Trump installed Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting Director of National Intelligence following Gabbard's departure. Democrats strongly opposed Pulte, accusing him of being an unqualified loyalist who they feared would politicize the intelligence community or work to dismantle it from within. When Trump subsequently pulled Clayton's scheduled confirmation hearing, Democrats walked away from the bipartisan deal to reauthorize Section 702.
Less than 24 hours before Monday's procedural vote, Pulte announced on the social media platform X that he had completed a fourth round of layoffs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
"Since becoming Acting Director of National Intelligence, our team has been smartly, and carefully, reducing the size of ODNI, re-focusing ODNI on national security, the law, and the statute," Pulte wrote. "As of this evening, we just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs. Thank you!"
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence oversees coordination among the country's 18 intelligence agencies.
If confirmed on Tuesday, Clayton would take over an office that has been the subject of internal upheaval and would face the immediate task of working with Congress to restore a surveillance authority that both parties have historically supported but have struggled to renew amid partisan tensions.
Clayton's nomination, like several others advanced during Trump's second term, has become entangled with the broader political fight over the administration's handling of national security agencies and personnel.
The Senate is expected to take up Clayton's final confirmation vote Tuesday.
— By Maine News Now Staff
