Democrats unified against former SEC chair after election questions
WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voted 9-8 along party lines to advance the nomination of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies, setting up a floor vote that could come as early as next week.
All Democrats on the panel voted against Clayton, according to a person familiar with the vote who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the proceedings, which took place behind closed doors as is customary for the committee. The outcome represented a shift from earlier indications that some Democrats might support Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.
The party-line vote followed a contentious confirmation hearing last week in which Clayton repeatedly declined to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, instead stating that the election was “certified” for Biden. As MSI reported, during that hearing Clayton also avoided answering questions about whether a White House official asked him to subpoena New York Times journalists.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, said during the hearing that he was “bitterly disappointed” in Clayton, even though he had worked with him in the past.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said after the hearing that he thought Clayton’s performance was “abysmal,” and that “makes it much less likely that he will get Democratic votes.”
The Democratic pushback on Clayton comes as Trump has made revisiting the 2020 election, which he lost, a primary focus. On Thursday evening, Trump delivered a speech from the White House in which he again tried to cast doubts on that election and amplified debunked theories about Biden’s win. Clayton told senators he had no involvement with that speech.
Senators in both parties have expressed concerns about the current interim director, Bill Pulte, who took over when Tulsi Gabbard resigned last month. Pulte has no known intelligence experience and investigated the president’s perceived enemies in his previous post as a federal housing regulator.
Republicans had hoped to confirm Clayton in June so he could replace Gabbard without Pulte serving as interim, but Trump delayed the nomination before the Senate left for a two-week recess, allowing Pulte to take the job temporarily. As MSI has reported, Trump halted Clayton’s confirmation hearing in mid-June, and the nomination remained stalled through a standoff with Congress over election legislation.
Clayton did not mention Pulte during the hearing but emphasized his own government and national security experience, aiming to reassure senators in both parties.
“I saw firsthand how a strong national security apparatus depends on decisive judgment, discipline, integrity, and effective communication and cooperation across different branches of the government,” Clayton said in his opening statement. “If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit to upholding these principles every day.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the committee, expressed frustration last month when the hearing was delayed. He said that Clayton has a reputation for operating with “morality, decency and integrity” in his previous positions.
“Jay Clayton is a highly qualified nominee with a deep experience combatting a wide range of national security threats. I’m pleased that the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to advance his nomination to be Director of National Intelligence,” Cotton said in a statement Tuesday.
The committee’s approval sets up a Senate floor vote on the nomination. Democrats are unlikely to allow Republicans to speed up the vote, but Republicans do not need any Democratic support to confirm Clayton.