The Senate committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton on Wednesday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has rescheduled its confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s nominee for national intelligence director, Jay Clayton, for next week.
The panel added the confirmation hearing to its calendar for Wednesday, nearly a month after Trump canceled the original hearing amid a spat with Congress over his proposed voter ID legislation, the SAVE America Act. William Pulte has served as acting director since Tulsi Gabbard stepped away from the role in early June.
Clayton is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Trump said he would keep Pulte in the post until his personal lawyer, Jamie McDonald, was confirmed to replace Clayton as U.S. attorney.
Pulte, who had no intelligence experience prior to taking over for Gabbard, has been filling the role alongside his duties as Federal Housing Finance Agency director and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trump initially nominated Pulte for the role in a permanent capacity, but after pushback from critics, he said he would be in the post temporarily.
Pulte used his position in the Federal Housing Finance Agency to investigate some of Trump’s opponents and allege mortgage fraud, leading some critics to worry he might use the position in the intelligence community to do the same.
This week in Washington
Olympic canoeist David Hearn departs the Moultrie Courthouse after pleading not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday. Hearn was indicted on July 2 on one count of destruction of property of more than $1,000 for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
