Trump delays his own national intelligence nominee, fueling tension with
fellow Republicans
[June 18, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, ERIC TUCKER and SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday derailed the
confirmation process of his own nominee to head the nation’s
intelligence agencies, an extraordinary move that upended Senate efforts
to renew a crucial surveillance program and fueled fresh tensions with
fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill.
In an overnight social media post from the Group of Seven summit in
France, Trump declared he was delaying the nomination of federal
prosecutor Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence just hours
ahead of his scheduled hearing, despite bipartisan praise for the
nominee and Republican efforts to speed him through the confirmation
process.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said
Republicans would go ahead with the Clayton hearing anyway, “unless the
president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination." But
later he postponed the hearing, saying it was “regrettable” that Trump
had directed Clayton not to appear.
“Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the
president has said repeatedly,” Cotton said. “While today’s hearing is
now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his
confirmation in the near future.”
Trump's attempt to delay Clayton makes it more likely that his temporary
pick for the intelligence job, top housing official Bill Pulte, will
take over when outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard leaves office on Friday.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized Pulte, a
Trump loyalist who has no known national security experience and has
used his current administration perch to target perceived adversaries of
the president.
Trump has defended Pulte, calling him “fair” and “talented” in his
social media post. Speaking to reporters in France, Trump called the
speedy process to get Clayton formally installed a “rush act by the
Democrats.”
“Why are they afraid of this guy? They’re so afraid of him,” Trump said,
referring to Pulte. “They’ll do anything not to have Pulte go in there.”
Caught in the middle is the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, bipartisan legislation that aims
to prevent terrorist attacks by monitoring the communications of
targeted foreigners located outside the United States. Democrats had
said they would not provide the necessary votes to pass the bill unless
Pulte's temporary appointment was withdrawn. The current surveillance
authority expired last week.
Further complicating matters, Trump said in his social media post that
he would not sign the FISA renewal without his legislation to require
proof of citizenship for all voters — which does not have enough votes
to pass the Senate — and that he does not want to remove Clayton from
his current position as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New
York until his replacement, James McDonald, is approved.
Trump's post sent Senate Republicans scrambling, and it was unclear if
and when Clayton's nomination would move forward.
“We’ll just have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on
what the White House position is on this,” Senate Majority Leader John
Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday morning. He said he didn't know
why Trump was holding up the effort.
“Good question,” he said.
Escalating tensions between White House and Capitol Hill
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, called Trump’s move an “extraordinary display of dysfunction
from a president who seems determined to turn America’s national
security into a political bargaining chip.”
“The biggest obstacle to resolving these issues has not been Senate
Democrats or Senate Republicans,” Warner said. “It has been the chaos
and confusion coming from the White House itself.”
It was just the latest in a series of standoffs between Trump and Senate
Republicans this year.
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Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York,
listens during a news conference in New York, March 9, 2026. (AP
Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
A funding bill for Trump’s immigration agencies was delayed several
weeks when Republicans revolted over a $1.776 billion
“anti-weaponization” fund and a $1 billion security request for the
White House, including his new ballroom. The bill passed after
acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the settlement would not
move forward, and GOP leaders decided to drop the security money
from the bill.
Trump then appointed Pulte as interim intelligence director just as
the FISA renewal was moving toward passage, upsetting bipartisan
talks. Republicans urged the White House to pull the appointment, to
no avail.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said that Trump’s
recent moves are “undermining the results he wants.”
“Jay Clayton was on the brink of having a very good hearing and
probably getting some Democrat support, and now we’re in a posture
to where it may be the reason that 702 doesn’t get reauthorized,”
Tillis said. “That’s a mistake.”
Tillis called Pulte a “sycophant” to Trump.
“How could anybody think he was going to be a credible choice?” he
asked.
Democrats say Trump is distracting from other issues
Democrats say that Trump is undermining Americans’ safety as he
makes demands of the Senate and tries to put loyal allies in
national security positions.
Pulte’s appointment “should send a shiver down the spine of every
American,” said Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former
CIA analyst and national security official. “The only thing more
dangerous than letting FISA lapse is putting Bill Pulte at the head
of 17 intelligence agencies.”
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said he may have
supported Clayton, with whom he met on Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate
because he nominated this guy,” King said of Trump.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she thinks Trump is also trying to
divert attention from the war in Iran.
Murray said Clayton was on track to be confirmed because “most
Democrats felt that allowing Pulte to go in office was a really bad
idea, and most Republicans agreed.”
Consequences for FISA's lapse
National security officials across both major political parties have
for years described Section 702 as vital for gathering intelligence
that can disrupt terrorist attacks and espionage operations, though
some lawmakers and civil liberties advocates have raised concerns
over the government's use of information about Americans that is
incidentally collected through the program.
A court order from March certified that the program could continue
for an additional 12 months, though it is possible that
communications companies could challenge the government's authority
to force them to cooperate and share data.
Trump's delay of Clayton “shows he has no interest in getting FISA
done,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
___
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Joey Cappelletti and Lisa
Mascaro in Washington, Aamer Madhani in Evian-les-Bains, France, and
Darlene Superville in Geneva contributed to this report.
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