Senate to Confirm Jay Clayton as Next Intelligence Chief

The Senate is expected to confirm Jay Clayton, former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, as the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Tuesday, placing him at the helm of the U.S. intelligence community during a period of heightened global tensions and expired counterterrorism surveillance authorities.

Clayton’s confirmation caps a tumultuous succession process that began when former DNI Tulsi Gabbard resigned in May 2026 to care for her cancer-stricken husband. President Donald Trump’s interim appointment of Bill Pulte — a former Federal Housing Finance Agency director with no known intelligence experience — alarmed lawmakers in both parties and set off a chain of events that ultimately led to the expiration of a key surveillance law.

A Contentious Confirmation Path

Clayton’s nomination advanced through the Senate Intelligence Committee on a party-line 9-8 vote on July 21. The Senate then voted 51-43 largely along party lines on Monday to advance his nomination to a final vote, according to AP News.

His confirmation hearing on July 15 before the Intelligence Committee became heated as Democrats repeatedly pressed him on whether former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Clayton declined to say outright that Biden won, stating only that the election was “certified” for Biden. He told senators, “I’m not an election denier,” and acknowledged that “Joe Biden was president,” but refused to state unequivocally that Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 contest, as Roll Call reported.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) confronted Clayton directly during the hearing: “You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you ask to lead America’s intelligence community? Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee who had initially praised Clayton’s nomination, expressed frustration. “I’ve known Mr. Clayton for some time, I worked with him closely when he was at the SEC,” Warner said. “But I am bitterly disappointed.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Clayton’s performance “abysmal.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) defended the nominee, calling him “a highly qualified nominee with a deep experience combating a wide range of national security threats,” as AP News reported.

FISA Expiration Hangs Over Confirmation

Clayton’s confirmation could unlock a bipartisan deal to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expired in June 2026 for the first time in its history. The law, which allows monitoring of foreign nationals outside the U.S. for intelligence purposes, has been credited with preventing terrorist attacks.

Democrats walked away from a renewal deal after Trump abruptly postponed Clayton’s originally scheduled confirmation hearing in June, allowing Pulte to remain as interim DNI. The Fox News report noted that Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) challenged Democrats to support Clayton, saying they had allowed “our nation’s most important counterterrorism tool to go dark for the first time ever.”

Sen. Warner acknowledged the dilemma facing Democrats, saying they were “between a rock and a hard place” with Pulte in the job, as reported by AP News.

Pulte’s Interim Leadership and ODNI Downsizing

During his brief tenure, Pulte presided over a significant reduction of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Just hours before Clayton’s scheduled confirmation vote, Pulte announced on X that he had completed a fourth round of layoffs, boasting of “approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago,” according to AP News.

Pulte also released intelligence community documents from 2020 on X describing China’s capacity to interfere in U.S. elections, a move that critics said was part of a broader Trump administration effort to raise concerns about election integrity.

Subpoenas of Journalists Draw Scrutiny

Democrats also pressed Clayton on his role, as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in authorizing subpoenas of four New York Times journalists who reported on security concerns about the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called the subpoenas “rushed, aggressive, with an unnecessary urgency.”

The Department of Justice voluntarily withdrew the subpoenas two days after Clayton was confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, as Roll Call reported.

What’s Next

If confirmed as expected, Clayton will inherit an intelligence community that has been significantly downsized under Pulte’s leadership, with an expired Section 702 authority that remains in limbo. The Trump administration has signaled that FISA renewal could follow quickly after Clayton’s confirmation, though questions remain about whether Trump would sign a bill without accompanying voter ID legislation.

Clayton, in his opening statement, sought to reassure senators about his approach: “I saw firsthand how a strong national security apparatus depends on decisive judgment, discipline, integrity, and effective communication and cooperation across different branches of the government. If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit to upholding these principles every day.”

The final confirmation vote is expected Tuesday afternoon.