President Trump delayed Jay Clayton’s intelligence nomination, saying he wants Congress to pair surveillance action with a voter ID bill.
President Trump said Wednesday he is delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community, casting the move as leverage in a fight over a voter ID bill that does not currently have enough support to pass Congress.
In a lengthy post on his social media site, Trump said he would keep Bill Pulte, a top U.S. housing official, as acting director of national intelligence. The decision pauses what had been a fast-moving effort to advance Clayton, who was scheduled to appear Wednesday at a Senate confirmation hearing.
The delay comes amid a broader standoff over a lapsed surveillance program and the president’s push to link its approval to voting legislation. Trump accused Democrats of breaking a deal to renew the surveillance program after he nominated Clayton, then added a new condition.
“I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” Trump wrote, referring to the surveillance program and his name for the voter ID bill.
The Republican-controlled Congress has not acted on the voting bill because it lacks enough support in either chamber, particularly among Democrats. Democrats had said they would not renew the expired surveillance programs unless Trump withdrew Pulte’s nomination.
Pulte’s role had already drawn criticism from lawmakers in both parties, who questioned his lack of intelligence experience. That resistance effectively pushed Trump toward Clayton, whose nomination had been moving quickly because of concern over the surveillance lapse. The Senate Intelligence Committee had been expected to vote on Clayton’s nomination as soon as Thursday.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, sharply criticized Pulte during an appearance Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Warner said intelligence officials were worried about sharing information with Pulte and that foreign governments had expressed concern.
Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, a high-profile office known for white-collar and financial crime prosecutions. He previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first administration after a career at Sullivan & Cromwell.
Trump also said he did not want to remove Clayton from the U.S. attorney’s office before Clayton’s replacement, Jamie McDonald, is approved. The next test will be whether Congress moves on the surveillance and voting measures, or whether Clayton’s nomination remains stalled while Pulte stays in the acting intelligence post.
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