U.S. President Donald Trump on June 10 announced his intention to nominate federal prosecutor Jay Clayton as the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The announcement came just one day after Trump directed acting Director Bill Pulte to cut staff at the office that oversees and coordinates 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA and NSA.
The decision unfolds amid widespread criticism of Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director. Pulte has no background in intelligence or the military. Democratic lawmakers have threatened to freeze foreign intelligence powers if Trump does not appoint a new DNI, while some Republican senators have also urged the president to reverse course.
Despite holding only an interim role, Pulte can technically remain in the post for 210 days after assuming office without Senate confirmation.
On Truth Social, Trump praised Clayton, currently a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York and former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He wrote: “Very few people in the legal community are as respected as Jay. I encourage the U.S. Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.”
Clayton’s nomination will require a majority vote in the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats.
Earlier, Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who backed Trump before the 2024 election, stepped down from the DNI post last month, citing her husband’s cancer treatment.
