Jay Clayton advanced toward final confirmation Monday night after clearing a 51-43 Senate cloture vote.
Jay Clayton, 59, moved forward in Washington on Monday after senators voted 51-43 to cut off debate on Donald Trump’s pick to run national intelligence, setting up a final confirmation vote later this week.
Trump first pressed Clayton’s case on Truth Social in June, after the White House fight over Bill Pulte rattled the nomination and stalled the first hearing.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay. I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible,”
Senate Republicans quickly backed Clayton once the acting DNI fight spilled into the Section 702 debate, where Democrats were already furious about who would hold the office.
Cotton said in a statement, “Jay Clayton is an excellent choice by President Trump for Director of National Intelligence.”
Warner said the interim setup was pushing the Senate into a corner over surveillance authority, while the intelligence lapse left both parties scrambling for leverage.
“We will get Clayton, I hope, confirmed as quickly as possible,” Warner said on Face the Nation.
Clayton told senators at his hearing that he had done real national security work before, pointing to his time in Manhattan and at the SEC.
“I saw firsthand how a strong national security apparatus depends on decisive judgment, discipline, integrity, and effective communication and cooperation across different branches of the government,” Clayton said.
He also tried to reassure lawmakers that his leadership would stay grounded in the job itself, not in Trump’s election fixation.
“If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit to upholding these principles every day.”
After Tuesday’s committee vote, Warner still said he wanted someone calmer at the top and argued that the office should not become another political weapon.
Warner said he wanted someone “who is going to be a restraint, not an agitator.”
Schumer said Clayton’s hearing had already cost him support on the Democratic side, especially after the nominee would not plainly answer the 2020 election question.
“The performance of Jay Clayton in committee today was abysmal, and it makes it much less likely that he will get Democratic votes,” Schumer told reporters.
Thune said Republicans were still prepared to push the nomination all the way to a final vote, and he made clear the chamber would keep moving.
“I don’t know what ‘realistic’ is, but we’re going to probe the limits of it,” Thune said.
In the viral moment, Trump abruptly canceled Clayton’s first hearing, upending a plan that GOP leaders had sold as a fast track.
He tied the delay to his fight over a voting bill and the temporary intelligence job he had given Bill Pulte, which had angered Democrats.
Cotton wrote on X, “It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today.”
A final confirmation vote is expected later this week in Washington.