(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said that Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be the next Director of National Intelligence has been canceled and will not continue until his pick to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, is confirmed.
“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,” Trump posted on social media. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”
Trump also repeated that he wanted both his SAVE America Act bill and an extension to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which lapsed over the weekend after an extension vote failed in the House last week, to pass together after more than a dozen Republicans voted against a short-term extension.
Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard resigned from her post last month, saying that she was stepping down after her husband of 11 years, Abraham Williams, was diagnosed with “an extremely rare form of bone cancer,” according to a resignation letter she posted to social media.
Her departure marked another Cabinet-level shakeup during Trump’s second term after departures by former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this year.
Gabbard’s tenure was marked by two major conflicts abroad, politically charged election-related investigations at home and the unresolved tension between the anti-war message that first defined her rise in politics and the national security office she later came to hold.
Trump selected Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence, but Democrats in both chambers signaled objections to him, saying that he does not have any national intelligence experience.
Pulte is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said last week that reversing Pulte’s temporary appointment would only be a “starting point” to convince Democrats to pass FISA, but making another change at DNI wouldn’t be enough on its own to sway Democrats.
“It’s a step in the right direction, because it reverses something that is clearly out of bounds, unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to occur,” Jeffries said.
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