President Donald Trump on Wednesday called to delay hearings on Capitol Hill for Jay Clayton, his pick to become the United States’ next director of national intelligence (DNI), due to Republicans’ failure to shore up legislation combining surveillance laws and election security.
Clayton, currently a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and ex-chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was tasked by the president last week to lead the agency long term and oversee 18 national intel agencies. Trump’s selection came somewhat as a surprise after he initially expressed strong support for 38-year-old Bill Pulte, current director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, to take over for outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump has been critical of Democrats on Capitol Hill who have pointed to the Pulte pick as impetus to not immediately renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which last Thursday was not extended in both the House and Senate. The House, in a 198-218 vote, failed to pass a three-week extension of the spy program when it required a two-thirds majority. Three efforts to unanimously pass extensions in the Senate also failed.
Trump, who in the past criticized FISA, wants it included in overarching legislation known as the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act) that in part would require U.S. citizenship proof in order to register to vote. It is viewed by Republicans as a major federal election overhaul.
“The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. “However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA.
“Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal.”
The president also indicated a type of package deal in terms of confirmations, mentioning that he doesn’t want Clayton “in place” until the newly nominated U.S. attorney for the SDNY, James “Jamie” McDonald, is “blue slipped.” McDonald previously served on Trump’s criminal defense team and was an enforcement chief at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“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 added. “Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap. … In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”
Trump in the past scrutinized FISA. In one Truth Social post from April 2024, he wrote: “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”
Committee Leaders Vow to Move Forward
FISA law has been supported by Trump, who has pointed to the ongoing World Cup and America 250 events as further reasoning.
Defense Secretary Hegseth has warned that allowing Section 702 of FISA to lapse would be “devastating to our national security.” That section is controversial considering that it allows the U.S. government to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreign targets located outside the country, though it often includes Americans’ communications.
Although Trump indicated his intentions regarding the DNI nomination process, not all Republicans are seemingly receptive.
“Jay Clayton is a pending nominee before the Intelligence Committee,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), chair of the Intelligence Committee, said on X. “We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination.”
A spokesperson for Cotton, when asked about his remarks in comparison to Trump’s demands, deferred to the X post and provided no further comment. Military.com also reached out to the White House for comment.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the committee, wrote on X that Trump is “displaying an extraordinary display of dysfunction” based on his efforts “to turn America’s national security into a political bargaining chip.”
“Over the past two weeks, President Trump has careened from one personnel decision and political demand to the next – first installing Bill Pulte, then nominating Jay Clayton, then demanding unrelated legislation be attached to FISA reauthorization, and now threatening to derail both the confirmation process and a bipartisan reauthorization effort,” Warner wrote. “At every turn, the president has injected more uncertainty into a process that should be focused on one thing: keeping the American people safe.
“National security cannot be governed by social media post. The president’s latest intervention only underscores a simple reality: the biggest obstacle to resolving these issues has not been Senate Democrats or Senate Republicans. It has been the chaos and confusion coming from the White House itself.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who recently lost his GOP primary to a Trump-endorsed opponent, called Trump’s efforts to tie in both key pieces of legislation together “a trick for the weak.”
“I like the Freedom Caucus, but attaching the SAVE Act to warrantless spying is dumb,” Massie wrote on X. “Why would we let the government spy on us in exchange for anything? After we trade the Fourth Amendment for parliamentary advantage, what shall we trade the First and Second Amendments for?”
Read the full article here