Trump delays Clayton intelligence nomination over voter ID bill

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community, tying the move to a push for Congress to pass a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough support to clear either chamber.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump said he was canceling Clayton’s Senate confirmation hearing, which had been scheduled for Wednesday, and would keep Bill Pulte, a top U.S. housing official, as acting director of national intelligence. NBC News reported that Trump issued the post while keeping world leaders waiting for nearly an hour on the final day of the Group of Seven summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.

Clayton, now the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, had been set to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee after his nomination was fast-tracked. The panel had been expected to vote on the nomination as soon as Thursday, following a lapse in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, a surveillance program backed by national security hawks.

The program allows the administration to spy on foreign nationals living abroad without warrants. It has long drawn criticism from privacy advocates on both the left and the right, who say it can sweep up Americans’ data and is vulnerable to abuse. A bill to renew it needs 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats.

Trump accused Democrats of breaking a deal to renew the surveillance program after Republicans moved to replace Pulte with Clayton. Lawmakers in both parties had opposed Pulte’s nomination, citing his apparent lack of intelligence experience. Democrats had said they would not renew the expired surveillance authorities until Trump withdrew Pulte’s nomination.

“The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats,” Trump wrote, using a derisive spelling for Democrats. “However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA. Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal.”

Trump then linked his approval of FISA to a separate voting measure. “Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” he wrote, using his name for the bill requiring people to show identification to vote.

The Republican-controlled Congress has not acted on the voter ID bill because it does not have enough support to pass in either chamber, particularly among Democrats.

Trump also said he does not want to remove Clayton from the U.S. attorney’s office before Clayton’s replacement, Trump lawyer Jamie McDonald, is approved. Clayton leads one of the country’s most prominent federal prosecutor’s offices, known for white-collar and financial crime cases. He previously chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first administration after a long career at Sullivan & Cromwell.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Trump’s selection of Pulte for director of national intelligence had made it “much harder” to reach a bipartisan agreement. Democratic lawmakers had expressed support for Clayton, though some said Trump’s move to install Pulte as acting director was itself a reason to oppose renewing the warrantless surveillance power.