Senate panel advances Jay Clayton's nomination to lead US intelligence
agencies
[July 22, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Intelligence Committee has advanced the
nomination of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the
nation’s intelligence agencies, along party lines.
The 9-8 vote came after some Democrats had praised Clayton and indicated
that they might vote for him. But that shifted after a contentious
hearing last week in which Clayton repeatedly refused to say that former
President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the panel, said at the
end of the hearing that he was “bitterly disappointed” in Clayton, the
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former
Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, even though he had worked
with him in the past.
The committee’s approval sets up a floor vote on Clayton’s nomination,
potentially early next week. The vote took place behind closed doors, as
is customary for the panel, and all Democrats voted against Clayton,
according to a person familiar with the vote who requested anonymity to
disclose it.
The Democratic pushback on Clayton comes as Trump has made revisiting
the 2020 election, which he lost, a primary focus. On Thursday evening,
he 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 that he had no involvement with that speech, but
he said repeatedly that the election was “certified” for Biden,
declining to say outright that the Democrat won.
Warner said after the vote on Tuesday that he wants to see someone in
the job “who is going to be a restraint, not an agitator.”
Republicans want to quickly confirm Clayton
Senators in both parties have expressed concerns about the 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.
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Jay Clayton testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee
confirmation hearing to be the next Director of National
Intelligence on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Republicans were hoping to confirm Clayton in June so he could replace
Gabbard without Pulte serving as interim. But Trump delayed Clayton’s
nomination before the Senate left for a two-week recess, allowing Pulte
to take the job temporarily.
As the nomination heads to the Senate floor, it’s unclear whether
Democrats will allow Republicans to speed up a vote. Though he is
opposing Clayton's nomination, Warner said he didn't want to slow it
down.
“We are between a rock and a hard place” with Pulte in the job, he said.
Clayton did not mention Pulte in the hearing last week. But he
emphasized his own government and national security experience,
attempting to assuage 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. “If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit
to upholding these principles every day.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who expressed
frustration last month when the hearing was delayed, 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
combating a wide range of national security threats," Cotton said in a
statement on Tuesday.
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