Overview
- President Trump formally nominated Jay Clayton on Thursday to be the permanent director of national intelligence and transmitted the nomination to the Senate for confirmation.
- Bill Pulte remains the acting DNI for now and Senate Democrats are demanding his removal from the post before they will back a renewal of key intelligence authorities.
- Congress failed to pass a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the authority lapsed after lawmakers left town, creating near-term limits on some foreign‑target collection.
- Clayton is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission who has handled high‑profile prosecutions, including actions tied to Nicolás Maduro.
- The Senate Intelligence Committee is scheduling a confirmation hearing and Republican leaders say they will move quickly, but Democrats link any vote to replacing Pulte and to resolving the 702 lapse.