Jay Clayton is one step closer to becoming President Donald Trump’s spy czar — but he’s shedding Democratic support in the ascent.
The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 9-8 on Tuesday to advance Clayton’s nomination as director of national intelligence to the full chamber. The party-line vote marks a partial setback for Clayton, who was expected to draw broad Democratic support until a contentious confirmation hearing last week. At the hearing, Clayton repeatedly refused to admit that Joe Biden was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.
The vote nonetheless puts Clayton, a top federal prosecutor and former SEC chair, on the cusp of joining President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. Senate Republicans have the votes to confirm Clayton without any Democratic support, though it is not immediately clear when Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to do so.
Democrats are still likely to prefer Clayton over the current acting DNI, Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no background in national security. They just aren’t as supportive as they’d seemed previously.
Senate Intelligence Chair Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and ranking Democrat Sen. Mark Warner (Va.) last month agreed to a deal to fast-track Clayton’s confirmation in exchange for Democratic support for a controversial spy law. But Trump derailed the plan at the last minute, directing Clayton not to attend his first scheduled confirmation hearing because he felt Democrats weren’t delivering on their end of the deal.
That resulted in the partial expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act last month, and it is still not clear when the Senate will vote to re-up it next.
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