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Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton at NYC’s Johnson Houses on Dec. 17, 2025. USAO Southern District of New York/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
The nomination hearing for Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next U.S. director of national intelligence (DNI), is scheduled for July 15, according to a notice from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The job oversees the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies and units and is the top intelligence adviser to the president.
Trump named Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to serve as acting DNI on June 2 after former DNI Tulsi Gabbard said in May that she was leaving the administration to spend time with her husband following his cancer diagnosis.
Democrats opposed the appointment, saying that Pulte lacked experience in intelligence or national security.
Trump then nominated Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, on June 11 to be the next DNI.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in June that he has “known and respected” Clayton for decades.
“His intelligence, temperament, and deep commitment to public service will make him a terrific DNI,” Himes said at the time.
Clayton had served as head of the SEC from May 2017 until December 2020. He also served as the head of the prominent law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the world’s largest.
He was originally scheduled to appear before the committee on June 17. Trump canceled the hearing, saying that Democrats broke their agreement to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in exchange for his not keeping Pulte on as acting DNI.
FISA authorizes spy agencies to collect communications of foreign targets without a warrant, but has at times led to the collection of information from Americans in communication with those targets. Trump has said the act is “extremely important to our military.”
“Failing to extend FISA Section 702 could be fatal,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on social media on June 11.
The president said in a June post on Truth Social that some Democrats will continue to oppose renewing Section 702 of FISA regardless of who he chooses to head the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Trump also said he would not approve the FISA extension unless it was accompanied by the Save America Act, which would require people to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.
On June 13, Trump said that he intends to appoint James McDonald as the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. McDonald has yet to receive a formal Senate confirmation hearing.
Kimberly Hayek and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
