Jay Clayton, the Trump administration’s pick to lead the intelligence community, will appear before the Senate on Wednesday — weeks after the president abruptly canceled his previously scheduled confirmation hearing.
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The hearing before the Senate Intelligence Community could clear a path for lawmakers to replace Bill Pulte, a mortgage agency official and Trump loyalist, as the acting director of national intelligence.
Pulte has no prior national security experience and used his former post atop the Federal Housing Finance Agency to aid mortgage fraud allegations against President Donald Trump’s political enemies. Democrats have worried that he would wield the intelligence community to bring similar charges against Trump foes.
In his short tenure, Pulte has fired some intelligence officials and sent others back to their home agencies.
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Clayton has served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration. Democrats have said they support his nomination.
In an effort to block Pulte from temporarily taking the role, lawmakers sought to fast-track Clayton’s hearing in June, but Trump told the nominee not to appear only hours before the session was set to occur — calling on the Senate to first pass a voting restriction bill. The Senate has not yet done so.
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