A confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next director of national intelligence (DNI), was postponed Wednesday after the president said he was “delaying his nomination” pending congressional approval of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act..
According to Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, the White House directed Clayton not to appear.
“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today. Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future,” Cotton said in a statement on X.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the committee’s top Democrat, criticized the administration’s handling of the process, calling it disruptive to national security policy.
He said in a post on X that the situation reflects “an extraordinary display of dysfunction” and indicated that repeated shifts in personnel and policy demands have injected uncertainty into intelligence operations and legislative negotiations.
The postponement comes amid escalating tension over intelligence and surveillance policy, with Trump tying Clayton’s nomination to congressional approval of both FISA Section 702 reauthorization and the SAVE America Act.
In a Truth Social post on June 17, Trump said he would not support moving Clayton’s nomination or FISA negotiations forward unless both measures advance together.
“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the good of the nation, I will not approve FISA without the SAVE America Act going along with it,” Trump wrote.
Section 702 of FISA, a key surveillance authority, expired on June 12 after repeated delays and short-term extensions earlier this year.
Democrats have said they would not support reauthorizing the program while Pulte remains in a senior intelligence role. Trump, meanwhile, said in his Truth Social post that Republicans were misled in negotiations and that Democrats “broke the deal” by withholding support for FISA reauthorization.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has backed efforts to move forward quickly with Clayton’s confirmation, saying Pulte was always intended to serve in a temporary capacity. Thune has also expressed skepticism about advancing the SAVE America Act, pointing to existing state-level measures he said already address concerns about election fraud.
Thune had hoped to bring Clayton’s nomination to the Senate floor as early as Thursday.
Trump also tied the delay in Clayton’s hearing to the pending confirmation of James McDonald, his nominee for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The president said McDonald “must be confirmed and blue slipped” before Clayton leaves his current role.
A blue slip is a Judiciary Committee practice that allows home-state senators to signal support or opposition to certain nominees. In this case, those senators are Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Trump indicated on Truth Social that Bill Pulte will remain in the acting director of national intelligence role following the anticipated departure of Tulsi Gabbard, who had planned to serve through June 30.