Trump nominates Jay Clayton as intelligence chief after Congress blocks loyalist pick
President Trump announced the nomination of Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence on Thursday, hours after the House rejected a short-term surveillance extension sought by Trump amid a standoff over his acting pick Bill Pulte.
The nomination
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would nominate Jay Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be the next director of national intelligence. Clayton, 59, led the SEC from 2017 to 2021 and previously headed the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Trump praised him as one of the most respected figures in the legal community and urged the Senate to confirm him quickly.
Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay. I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.
Congressional pushback
Trump's announcement came after fierce opposition to his decision to install Bill Pulte, the 38-year-old head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting DNI. Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no intelligence or military experience, was due to take over on June 19, succeeding Tulsi Gabbard. Democrats threatened to withhold renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless Trump withdrew Pulte and named a permanent nominee. On Thursday, the House of Representatives rejected a short-term extension of FISA sought by the White House, with 19 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against the measure.
- House rejects short-term FISA extension.
- Trump nominates Jay Clayton as DNI.
- Bill Pulte scheduled to take over as acting director.
- Tulsi Gabbard's resignation effective.
Gabbard's departure
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who endorsed Trump in 2024, announced last month she was leaving the post effective June 30, citing her husband's cancer treatment. She had been a vocal supporter of Trump's foreign policy of restraint, even as the administration's actions in Venezuela and Iran appeared to diverge from that stance.
Senate confirmation ahead
Clayton's nomination requires Senate confirmation, and Republicans hold 53 seats. If confirmed before June 19, he would take office immediately, preventing Pulte from serving even temporarily. Trump had already advised Pulte, in a Truth Social post a day earlier, to reduce the size of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which coordinates 18 agencies including the CIA and the NSA.
