President Donald Trump has announced that he was delaying federal prosecutor Jay Clayton’s nomination to be the Director of National Intelligence in a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough support for passage.
However, a key Republican Senator vowed to push forward with a hearing anyway. Tim Cotton, the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Trump ally who does not generally challenge the President, responded by saying he would hold the hearing unless Trump orders Clayton not to appear or withdraws the nomination.
The dueling statements from Trump and Cotton create uncertainty over the long-term leadership of the 18-agency intelligence community and dash hopes for a swift renewal of a crucial surveillance program that expired in Congress last week due to bipartisan anger over Trump’s pick of Bill Pulte, a top U.S. housing official, as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
The tumult began today, when Trump, in a social media post just hours before Clayton’s scheduled confirmation hearing, said that he would keep Pulte as Acting Director of National Intelligence. Democratic and Republican lawmakers had opposed Trump’s selection of Pulte, citing his lack of known experience in intelligence and his use of his current administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the President — resistance that last week forced Trump to turn to Clayton.
In his social media post, Trump accused Democrats of breaking a deal to renew the program after he nominated Clayton. Trump also said that he does not want to remove Clayton from his current position as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York before his replacement, James McDonald, is approved.
McDonald was named to the Justice Department post on Saturday. Clayton, a Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, has spent the last 14 months as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, one of the Justice Department’s premier posts.
Meanwhile, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits spy agencies to collect without a warrant, the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States, hangs in the balance.
National security officials across both major political parties have for years described Section 702 as vital for gathering intelligence that can disrupt terror 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.
Clayton had been set to appear for a Senate confirmation hearing that was fast-tracked because of the program’s lapse. Democrats had said they would not renew the expired surveillance programs until Trump withdrew the selection of Pulte. Trump’s post suggested that debate to revive Section 702 could be indefinitely postponed.
Trump added another condition by seeming to link his approval of the surveillance program to the passage of a bill requiring people to show ID to vote. “Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” Trump said, using the acronym for the surveillance program and his name for the voter ID bill.
The Republican-controlled Congress has not acted on the voting bill because it does not have enough support in either chamber, particularly from Democrats. Trump made the announcement in Evian-les-Bains, France, where he was participating in the final day of the Group of Seven summit of leading industrial economies.
The Intelligence Director position became available after Tulsi Gabbard, who had held the job, announced last month that she was resigning to spend time with her husband as he fights cancer.
Trump’s Announcement Criticised
Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, called Trump’s post 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. It has been the chaos and confusion coming from the White House itself.”
Mark Warner
The President told reporters at the G7 summit that Pulte will be in the job “as long as it takes to get everybody else approved.”
As he sat alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said that the speedy process to get Clayton formally installed is a “rush act by the Democrats,” although Republicans control the Senate and worked expeditiously to move Clayton’s nomination.“Why are they afraid of this guy? They’re so afraid of him,” Trump said, referring to Pulte. He added, “They’ll do anything not to have Pulte go in there.”
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