Jay Clayton DNI confirmation clears Senate in party-line vote
The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence as a stalled Section 702 surveillance fight remains unresolved.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
The Jay Clayton DNI confirmation is done: the Senate voted 51 to 47 on Tuesday to make Clayton director of national intelligence, according to CBS News, putting President Trump's pick atop the U.S. intelligence community after a party-line fight.
Clayton replaces Bill Pulte, whom Trump had named to the job temporarily. CBS News described Pulte as a controversial housing official with no intelligence experience, and reported that his appointment helped derail a bipartisan push to renew a surveillance power that expired more than six weeks ago.
That authority is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a warrantless surveillance tool that lawmakers had been trying to reauthorize. Democrats walked away from a bipartisan deal after Pulte was placed in the acting intelligence role, CBS News reported.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, tied Clayton's confirmation directly to the stalled surveillance fight. “I hope this will encourage my colleagues to stop blocking reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” Thune said Monday on the Senate floor.
Why does Jay Clayton's DNI confirmation matter?
The director of national intelligence oversees the U.S. intelligence community, giving the role direct relevance to disputes over surveillance powers and national security policy. Clayton's confirmation gives the administration a Senate-confirmed official in the post after weeks of political friction over who should hold it.
Clayton had initially drawn praise from Democrats when Trump selected him, CBS News reported. He had recently served as U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and Republicans moved to confirm him quickly after Trump announced the nomination just hours before Section 702 was set to expire in mid-June.
That fast track did not hold. CBS News reported that Trump disrupted the original timetable shortly before Clayton was expected to appear for his confirmation hearing, a move that surprised Republicans and pushed the process back by about a month.
What is Section 702?
Section 702 is a surveillance authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows warrantless collection aimed at foreign intelligence targets. The fight in Congress is over whether to renew it after the authority lapsed more than six weeks ago.
Clayton eventually appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 15. During that hearing, he angered Democrats by declining to state outright that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, CBS News reported.
Pressed on the issue, Clayton repeatedly said Biden was “certified” as president, according to CBS News. The exchange became another flashpoint in a confirmation fight already tangled up with the stalled surveillance debate.
Even with Clayton now confirmed, the Section 702 lapse may continue for a while. CBS News reported that the Senate is scheduled to remain in Washington through next week and is not expected back before Sept. 14, while the House is already on a five-week recess and is scheduled to return Aug. 31.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.