Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, was set to be grilled at a confirmation hearing Wednesday that Republicans hoped would break the gridlock on an expired foreign spy program.
But the president suddenly announced Republicans were “canceling” the hearing until the Senate allows Jamie McDonald to become the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. McDonald was tapped this week to replace Clayton, the current U.S. attorney for that district.
“I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place,” Trump said in a nearly 4 a.m. post on Truth Social. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”
It is not yet clear how the Senate Intelligence Committee will proceed. Trump’s post came in the middle of the night, and Clayton was set to appear at 2 p.m. But his announcement scrambles the already tenuous path for Clayton and leaves further in doubt a bipartisan deal to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Republicans wanted Clayton confirmed as soon as Thursday, a bid to block interim appointment Pulte from taking over on Friday. And their plan to fast-track his nomination could have done so, if Democrats were willing to cooperate.
But Trump’s post is threatening to derail that timeline and with it, any hope that Section 702, which allows warrantless surveillance abroad, can be renewed after it lapsed last week. Senate Democrats had been demanding that Pulte be removed before giving their votes for that renewal.
It’s also unclear how Trump’s demand on McDonald will be handled, but the president is effectively trying to force Democrats into returning “blue slips” for his nomination as U.S. attorney.
In his Truth Social post, he fumed at the blue slip practice, which gives home state senators veto power over a prosecutor nominee, might block McDonald.
“Because of the ridiculous views of Republicans on blue slipping (Dumocrats are often willing to nix it), I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place,” Trump said.
REPUBLICANS RACE TO CONFIRM TRUMP DNI PICK JAY CLAYTON TO BREAK SPY PROGRAM GRIDLOCK
His statement compounds the “mixed signals” Democrats were already giving on Clayton, and whether they would help fast-track his confirmation. They stated on Tuesday that their vote would depend on how Clayton performs in his hearing.
“We are all awaiting the hearing, and we’ll make some decisions after that,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters on Tuesday. “There are lots of questions that have to be answered.”