Trump Orders Jay Clayton to Skip Senate DNI Hearing, Tom Cotton Cancels

President Donald Trump ordered Jay Clayton not to appear for a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday afternoon to become director of national intelligence, and Senate Intelligence Committee leaders then canceled the hearing.

“The American president blocks the confirmation of his own nominee Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence to pressure the Senate to approve his bill, which would require proof of citizenship to vote”

EL PAÍS

Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) posted on X that it was “regrettable” he had to cancel the hearing after Trump directed his DNI pick to skip it, while Trump said in a Truth Social post that “We are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today.”

EL PAÍS

Trump’s maneuver further derailed plans for Congress to reauthorize a crucial surveillance program that lapsed last week, with the National Security Agency saying the expired program accounts for more than 60% of his daily briefing.

The White House said Bill Pulte would remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence in the meantime, and the News of the United States account says Trump’s call also aimed to avoid having Pulte in the interim intelligence post altogether.

The Intercept frames the same sequence as Trump throwing “his latest hand grenade into congressional negotiations” over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, after he tied FISA to an unrelated voter suppression bill.

At a joint press conference on Wednesday, top Senate Democrats described cracks in their coalition over next steps on FISA after Trump linked it to the SAVE AMERICA ACT and scrapped the Clayton confirmation hearing.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he still hopes to pursue adding a warrant requirement to Section 702, while Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., expressed disappointment that the easiest route to renewal without major changes had been foreclosed.

News of the United States

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said, “We had a path forward, as of yesterday, and today we don’t, and that’s because of this president and his advisers,” as Senate Democrats argued the White House had to “figure out a path forward here.”

Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at the press conference that “It’s on our Republican colleagues to work with us to find A) a capable director, not someone who is a menace,” and he also urged Republicans to work with Democrats on renewing FISA.

The Intercept adds that privacy advocates thought they were on the verge of a breakthrough on reforms including a warrant requirement, but Trump’s ultimatum changed the trajectory of negotiations.

Trump said he would not approve FISA unless the SAVE AMERICA ACT went along with it, and the Intercept quotes his Truth Social framing: “to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it.”

“Before President Donald Trump threw his latest hand grenade into congressional negotiations over a key domestic spying law, two factions of Senate Democrats seemed to believe they were on the verge of a breakthrough”

The Intercept

The Intercept describes the SAVE AMERICA ACT as an unrelated voter suppression bill tied to the spy law ultimatum, while the EL PAÍS account says Trump pressed for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act to require proof of citizenship to vote.

EL PAÍS reports that a court order issued last March certified that the Section 702 program could continue for another 12 months, but it also says telecommunications companies are expected to challenge the government’s authority to compel them to cooperate without Congress’s authorization.

The Intercept says the renewal appeared to solve a problem for some Democrats created by Trump tapping Bill Pulte as intelligence chief, and it describes Section 702 as allowing federal agents to conduct “backdoor,” warrantless searches of Americans’ communications collected abroad.

EL PAÍS adds that Democrats had said they would not renew Section 702 until Trump withdrew Pulte’s candidacy, and it quotes Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer saying, “We will never approve the SAVE Act. Never.”