Who is Jay Clayton? Senate confirms President Trump’s new director of National Intelligence

WASHINGTON —

The U.S. Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the next director of national intelligence on Tuesday, hours after the office’s temporary leader announced another round of firings.

Clayton was tapped by President Donald Trump to oversee the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, a position created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to improve information sharing across the federal government.

Clayton previously served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he oversaw high-profile cases like the indictment of Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro. He also chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump’s first term.

Clayton’s election comments

Clayton’s nomination was praised by Republicans and, initially, by some Democrats. Criticism mounted after his confirmation hearing, when he refused to say outright that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, although he did concede that the election was certified for Biden.

“I’m not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified as the president of the United States,” Clayton said.

Clayton also sidestepped questions about former National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s visit to a Georgia election office earlier this year during an FBI search related to the 2020 election.

He advocated for improvements to election audits and, when pressed about whether the U.S. has a voter fraud problem, added, “I don’t think we can say definitively whether there is or is not until we have better processes.”

ODNI Downsizing

Clayton’s swearing-in will end the temporary leadership of Bill Pulte, who has wasted no time carrying out the president’s push to downsize the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Hours before Clayton’s confirmation, Pulte announced a fifth round of terminations, which he described as a 30% staff reduction compared to “weeks ago.”

“The Intelligence Community must protect the American people, NOT the political whims of the bloated and corrupt elite class,” Pulte wrote on social media.

While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have discussed slimming down ODNI, Democrats and some Republicans have raised concerns about Pulte overseeing that process, since he has no known intelligence experience.

During Clayton’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, raised concerns about calls to completely eliminate the office.

Clayton said that he is committed to maintaining ODNI in some capacity.

“There needs to be a focal point for coordination across the other 17 intelligence agencies. There needs to be a place of oversight and, to the extent that the ODNI has gotten into operations or started to play the roles of some of those other agencies, it probably should pull back,” Clayton said.

Gabbard also took steps to downsize the office. She stepped down from her post earlier this year, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.