By Patricia Zengerle and Erin Banco
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump threw doubt on Wednesday on the confirmation of his nominee to become the nation’s top spy, Jay Clayton, ordering its abrupt postponement in an effort to force Congress to pass a strict voter identification bill.
Republicans who have been pushing for rapid Senate approval of Clayton, the top U.S. attorney for Manhattan, to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) had said his confirmation hearing would go ahead as scheduled, until Trump ordered him not to appear.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, later said the hearing would be postponed but he looked forward to proceeding with the nomination in the near future.
“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today. Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly,” Cotton said on X.
Two people familiar with the matter said Trump’s social media post announcing the delay caught officials in the upper echelons of the intelligence community off guard, forcing them to scramble for information on whether Clayton was still set to appear as nominee in front of Congress.
Trump’s post appeared on social media hours before dawn in Washington.
POLITICAL BACKLASH
Trump nominated Clayton less than a week ago to lead the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, amid a political backlash over the loyalist he picked to fill the role temporarily.
That close ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, has no national security experience, raising concerns even among some Republicans that he would “weaponize” intelligence against Trump’s perceived political foes.
Trump then nominated James McDonald, one of his personal lawyers, to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. McDonald needs Senate approval for that role.
Trump, in France for a Group of Seven summit, said Pulte would remain as acting DNI, adding that his fellow Republicans “fell into a trap” when they agreed with Democrats to remove Pulte as acting spy chief in return for the approval of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows law enforcement to collect foreign intelligence that can include information about Americans without judicial authorization.
Trump’s action also cast doubt on hopes for a bipartisan agreement for the renewal of Section 702, seen as a crucial national security tool.
“However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton … that Pulte would be gone before the (Democrats) would vote on FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act),” Trump said.
Trump said he would not approve the FISA renewal without passage of his SAVE America Act. The SAVE Act would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a provision critics say would strip millions of Americans of their right to vote.
Trump has said the act would deliver his Republicans a “guaranteed” win in November’s midterm elections. With Trump’s approval rating dropping, opinion polls show Republicans will struggle to keep their slim control of Congress.
DEMOCRATS DIG IN
Democrats made their opposition clear.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York denounced Trump’s remarks in comments opening the Senate. “The SAVE Act is perhaps the most vicious piece of anti-voting rights legislation Trump has ever come up with. It has absolutely nothing – nothing – to do with FISA whatsoever,” he said.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, called Wednesday’s events “an extraordinary display of dysfunction.”
A few Republicans also expressed frustration. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a member of the intelligence committee, called the situation “unfortunate,” adding, “We need a DNI. We need to get FISA extended.”
Presidents cannot unilaterally cancel Senate hearings. But Clayton’s decision not to appear postponed the session. He could not be reached for comment.
It was not clear what would happen next.
Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate majority leader, said Republicans will “just have to take it one day at a time” while awaiting more information from the White House.
Thune had told a news conference on Tuesday that Clayton is “eminently qualified” and that his position as U.S. attorney meant he deals with intelligence matters.
Clayton’s current role in Manhattan is one of the most coveted and powerful positions for prosecutors in the Justice Department. His office is overseeing the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was seized in a lightning raid on January 3.
SURVEILLANCE TOOL
Democrats had said they would withhold the votes to renew Section 702 while Pulte was acting DNI, setting up the conflict that emerged on Wednesday with both Trump and their party seeking to use the DNI and Section 702 votes to exert leverage.
Democrats had hoped Pulte would spend little or no time as interim intelligence director after Tulsi Gabbard’s last day on June 19. Gabbard, a former Democrat with limited intelligence experience, was accused by Democrats of advancing Trump’s political agenda and promoting debunked election claims.
She resigned to spend more time with her husband as he undergoes cancer treatment.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Erin Banco; Additional reporting by David Morgan and Susan Heavey in Washington and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Durfee, Sanjeev Miglani, Mark Potter, Daniel Wallis, Deepa Babington and Stephen Coates)
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