WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Jay Clayton to become head of the nation’s intelligence agencies, putting a permanent director in place weeks after President Donald Trump sought to delay his nomination. Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, was confirmed 51-47 along party lines. Republicans had initially hoped to confirm Clayton in June, but Trump delayed his hearing in order to allow his temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, to take over for several weeks after former director Tulsi Gabbard resigned. Senators from both parties have expressed concerns about Pulte, a former housing regulator who had no intelligence experience. Pulte was in charge when Trump delivered a speech from the White House earlier this month doubling down on his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost, and released classified documents that he said were relevant to his arguments.
Pulte has also said he has presided over a downsizing of the national intelligence office, which functions as a coordinating hub for the U.S. government’s intelligence agencies. He boasted on social media that with a latest round of job cuts, the office is carrying out about a 30% staff reduction from weeks ago. He has not offered details about those cuts, making it hard to immediately corroborate the extent of any reductions.Democrats have also expressed concerns about Clayton, who lost bipartisan support after a contentious hearing two weeks ago in which he repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
