Trump stalls intelligence nominee as FISA fight widens
The president kept Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief while tying Jay Clayton’s confirmation to surveillance and voter ID legislation.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
President Donald Trump delayed the Senate confirmation process for his pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community, linking the nomination to fights over surveillance powers and voter identification rules. The move kept Bill Pulte, a housing official with no prior intelligence or military posts reported by Al Jazeera and The Associated Press, in charge of the 18-agency intelligence system on an acting basis.
Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social that Jay Clayton, his nominee for director of national intelligence, should not appear at a scheduled Senate hearing that afternoon. Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, a prominent Justice Department role.
According to Al Jazeera and AP, Clayton’s nomination last week had eased concerns among some lawmakers, including senior Republicans, about Pulte’s qualifications for the intelligence post. Trump said Pulte would remain acting director while Clayton’s confirmation was pushed back.
Surveillance vote tied to nomination
The delay came as Congress faced a renewal fight over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That authority allows U.S. spy agencies to collect communications of targeted non-Americans abroad without first obtaining a warrant, according to Al Jazeera and AP.
Civil rights advocates have criticized the provision because U.S. citizens’ information can be swept up indirectly, Al Jazeera and AP reported. Democrats had said they would not support renewing the authority while Pulte remained in the acting intelligence role.
Trump argued in his Truth Social post that Clayton could still be confirmed before a FISA vote, giving Democrats a chance to change course. He also said he would not sign off on FISA unless lawmakers passed a voter ID measure he called the SAVE AMERICA ACT.
The voter ID proposal has been a priority for Trump ahead of the November midterm elections, but it has not cleared the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, according to Al Jazeera and AP. Trump wrote that he would not approve FISA without the voter ID legislation “going along with it.”
Senate hearing postponed
Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, initially said he would move ahead with Clayton’s hearing unless Trump withdrew the nomination or told Clayton not to attend. After Trump directed Clayton to skip the session, Cotton postponed it.
Cotton said in a statement that it was “regrettable” Trump had told Clayton not to appear. He called Clayton “a patriot and a highly qualified nominee” and said he hoped to proceed with the confirmation soon.
Democrats criticized the White House’s handling of the process. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said in a statement that Trump had added uncertainty to a process that should focus on public safety.
Warner said the main barrier to resolving the disputes was not Senate Democrats or Republicans, but “the chaos and confusion coming from the White House itself.”
The intelligence director vacancy opened after Tulsi Gabbard resigned in May, citing her husband’s cancer treatment, according to Al Jazeera and AP. Pulte, a Trump ally who also leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has been serving in the role on an acting basis.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.