President Trump calls to delay nomination of intel pick Jay Clayton

President Trump calls to delay nomination of intel pick Jay Clayton

President Trump says he is delaying the nomination of Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence and disrupting approval of a surveillance tool at the center of the U.S. intelligence apparatus in order to pressure the Senate to advance another nominee and approve a long-stalled voting bill.

Trump's attempt to derail the confirmation came as a surprise social media post in the middle of the night less than 12 hours before Clayton is scheduled to appear before a Senate committee. Trump issued his demands in a post just before 4 a.m. eastern on Truth Social. Trump is currently at the G7 Summit in France.

In the post, Trump said the plan to quickly approve Clayton was part of a deal with Democrats to derail his previous, temporary pick, Bill Pulte, who has no intelligence experience and has been criticized as a political attack dog for the president. He went on to say he is demanding that reauthorization of the surveillance tool known as FISA Section 702 must be tied to an unrelated package of voting restrictions that has previously failed to advance in the Senate.

"Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney. In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump concluded.

It is a dramatic reversal for a nomination that had the potential to speed through the Senate, possibly with bipartisan support.

Clayton currently serves as a federal prosecutor, in charge of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

The director of national intelligence leads the intelligence community across 18 agencies and organizations and advises the president on national security issues, including through drafting and delivering the President's Daily Brief.

Senate lawmakers hoped for a speedy confirmation for Clayton, aiming to have him sworn in by June 19, the date that President Trump has said that his controversial pick for acting director, Bill Pulte, will step into the role on a temporary basis.

Pulte's appointment earlier this month was met with dismay on Capitol Hill. He currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and would enter the job with no national intelligence experience.

Given his record, Democrats and even some Republicans worry he will weaponize the key national security role. The uproar over Pulte contributed to the expiration on Friday of a nearly two decade-old spy law that underpins a great deal of U.S. intelligence gathering.

If confirmed, Clayton would succeed outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation last month citing her husband's cancer diagnosis.