President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to keep a 38-year-old housing executive with no national security experience in charge of the country’s intelligence community indefinitely unless senators agree to pass his unpopular voting restriction bill and approve his ex-personal attorney as the next top prosecutor in Manhattan before confirming his nominee to be the permanent Director of National Intelligence.Trump told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in France that Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte could remain as acting DNI for “as long as it takes” for senators to confirm Sullivan and Cromwell partner James McDonald as head of the Southern District of New York US Attorney’s office.McDonald, who has been representing Trump in a series of lawsuits since the president returned to power last year, had been tapped to replace Jay Clayton, the current head of SDNY who had been set to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday for a fast-track confirmation hearing as Trump’s nominee to replace Tulsi Gabbard as DNI. Clayton, who served as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, had been expected to easily win senators’ approval as part of a bipartisan agreement to confirm him before Pulte’s planned first day as acting DNI on Friday, at which point the upper chamber was also set to approve a reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — an important intelligence collection authority which expired last week.But Trump complained that the agreement was “like a rush act by the Democrats” and demanded that senators attach the election restriction bill he calls the Save America Act despite the fact that the bill lacks enough support to avoid a filibuster.President Donald Trump criticized senators in both parties as he canceled the confirmation process for his nominee to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (AP)“Whey said they were going to approve FISA, and I said, but we want FISA approved, but we want the Save America Act approved — voter ID, proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots, with exceptions ... it's not a lot, the Save America Act, and that can be passed any way they want to pass it, but I'm not going to sign FISA unless it's [included] and this was like a rush act. It was a rush act by the Democrats,” he said. Trump suggested that the opposition to Pulte was only on the part of Democrats in the upper chamber and posited that the opposition party is fearful of the federal housing boss for political reasons rather than his utter lack of national security experience.“Why are they afraid of this guy? I mean, they're so afraid of him, they'll do anything not to have pulled to go in there. He's a very capable guy, and they're worried about that,” he said.Trump’s comments came just hours after he called for senators to cancel Clayton’s confirmation hearing, taking the legs out from what should have been an easy confirmation process. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social Wednesday morning as Washington was just waking up and with hours to go until Clayton’s hearing was set to begin.Specifically, the president criticized Republicans for working with Democrats to torpedo his naming Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to be acting director. Many Republicans balked at the nomination given Pulte’s lack of experience in intelligence and national security while Democrats said that the announcement killed their desire to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expired last week. Trump accused his party of showing their hand too early in a political blunder.“The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats,” Trump posted. Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, currently serves as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a premier DOJ post. (Reuters)“However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA,” he said. “Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal.”But the Senate Intelligence Committee’s chairman, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, did not appear to be moved by Trump’s last-minute demand.In a post on X, he wrote: “Jay Clayton is a pending nominee before the Intelligence Committee. We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination.”The panel’s ranking Democrat, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, also weighed in on X by slamming what he called an “extraordinary display of dysfunction from a president who seems determined to turn America's national security into a political bargaining chip.”“Over the past two weeks, President Trump has careened from one personnel decision and political demand to the next – first installing Bill Pulte, then nominating Jay Clayton, then demanding unrelated legislation be attached to FISA reauthorization, and now threatening to derail both the confirmation process and a bipartisan reauthorization effort. At every turn, the president has injected more uncertainty into a process that should be focused on one thing: keeping the American people safe,” Warner said.“National Security,” he added, “cannot be governed by social media post.”Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, currently serves as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Trump said he did not want to give up Clayton before the Senate confirmed McDonald and called for him to be rapidly “blue-slipped,” a process where senators from the nominee’s home state sign off to approve on the nominee. “Because of the ridiculous views of Republicans on blue slipping (Dumocrats are often willing to nix it), I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place,” Trump said. Trump has long called for the Senate to get rid of the blue slip process, which he complained has prevented him from picking nominees for U.S. attorneys along with judicial nominees for states represented by Democrats. New York has two Democratic senators, which would allow Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to have veto power over McDonald.The president also reiterated that he would not sign the FISA reauthorization unless it also included the SAVE America Act, Republicans’ proposed legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. The announcement virtually guarantees that FISA will not be reauthorized.“Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap,” he said. “Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney. In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”Trump’s announcement blows up what should have been an easy confirmation. Republicans signaled openness to confirming Clayton. “I think it's a race to make sure that Mr. Pulte does not end up serving in an acting capacity,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Independent.Republicans had objected to not only Pulte’s lack of experience and qualifications, but also the fact he used his office to target former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Trump’s other perceived political enemies.