President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is delaying the nomination of federal prosecutor Jay Clayton to lead the U.S. intelligence community. Trump stated the delay is an effort to pressure Congress to pass a voter ID bill that currently lacks the legislative support needed for passage.
The announcement was made on social media just hours before Clayton’s scheduled Senate confirmation hearing. As a result, Bill Pulte will remain the acting director of national intelligence.
Lawmakers from both parties had previously opposed Pulte’s selection, citing his lack of intelligence experience and alleging he used his position as a housing official to target political adversaries. That opposition led Trump to choose Clayton last week.
The decision leaves the long-term leadership of the 18-agency intelligence community unresolved and delays the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expired last week amid bipartisan pushback against Pulte. The tool allows spy agencies to collect the communications of targeted foreigners outside the United States without a warrant. National security officials from both major parties state the program is vital for disrupting terror attacks and espionage, while civil liberties advocates and some lawmakers raise concerns about the incidental collection of Americans’ data.
A court order from last March allows the program to continue operating for another year, but officials note that telecommunications companies could challenge the government’s authority to force data sharing without congressional reauthorization. In his post, Trump accused Democrats of breaking an agreement to renew the program after Clayton was nominated. He also stated he wants Clayton to remain the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until his named successor, James McDonald, is confirmed.
Trump explicitly tied his support for the surveillance program to the passage of the “Save America Act,” which requires voters to show identification.
“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” Trump wrote.
The Republican-controlled Congress has not acted on the voting bill due to insufficient support in both chambers, particularly from Democrats. Trump issued the statement from Evian-les-Bains, France, where he was attending the final day of the G7 summit. The intelligence director post opened last month when Tulsi Gabbard resigned to care for her husband during his cancer treatment.
Clayton, who chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, has served as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan for the past 14 months. During his tenure, his office unsealed thousands of pages of court records from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Clayton also oversaw the drug trafficking prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
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