The US Senate voted to confirm Jay Clayton as the director of national intelligence on Tuesday, with a tally of 51-47 falling along party lines. All Republicans supported his nomination, while all Democrats opposed it.
Background and role
Clayton, currently the US attorney for the southern district of New York, will replace Bill Pulte, a staunch Trump loyalist who had been temporarily serving in the role since June. Trump's first director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned earlier this year. Clayton previously served as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump's first term.
Controversial confirmation hearing
During his confirmation hearing on 15 July, Clayton sidestepped several questions about the 2020 election and declined to say that Trump lost it. In a June interview on CNBC, Clayton suggested there was something amiss about the long period California takes to count ballots. "We had a problem, a deep problem with voting in America," he said. "On the integrity side, we're doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it." Clayton also would not say during his confirmation hearing whether voter fraud was a problem in American elections, even though several studies have shown it is exceedingly rare.
Subpoenas and criticism
Clayton's office also issued widely criticized subpoenas to New York Times journalists over their reporting on security concerns around Trump's Air Force One airplane that was a gift from Qatar. The government abruptly withdrew those subpoenas during a court hearing in which a federal judge pressed an attorney from Clayton's office about errors and irregularities in the subpoenas.
Comparison with predecessor
While Democrats saw Clayton as a more preferable pick than Pulte, who assisted in executing some of Trump's acts of political retribution, including the criminal prosecution of Letitia James and an effort to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve board of governors, Pulte also led the office of the director of national intelligence earlier this month when Trump declassified and released intelligence in support of false claims about the 2020 election. Pulte oversaw several rounds of layoffs at the agency.
Opposition from Democrats
Clayton's contentious hearing cost him bipartisan backing. Before the vote, Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, spoke in opposition, warning that Clayton was unqualified and would act as the president's "election conspiracy win."
