They didn’t know what to do.Just before 4 a.m.ET on Wednesday, President Trump blindsided everyone in the U.S.
Senate.In a post on Truth Social, the president declared he was "cancelling the Senate hearing" for his Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton.
Moreover, the President said he would withhold Clayton’s nomination from "going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S.Attorney."If confirmed, Clayton would vacate his post as U.S.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York.That’s the slot for which the President is nominating McDonald.TRUMP SAYS SENATE HEARING ON DNI NOMINEE IS CANCELED UNTIL US ATTORNEY REPLACEMENT CONFIRMEDJay Clayton, U.S.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks next to Jessica S.Tisch, New York Police Department commissioner, during a press conference at NYPD headquarters following the arrest of suspects charged with igniting IEDs near Gracie Mansion, the home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in New York City on March 9, 2026.
(REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)So what would happen with the hearing?Lawmakers and aides scrambled as they woke to the news Wednesday morning.After all, Trump is the president.
He doesn’t have the authority to cancel a Senate hearing."Yeah.I don't think that's his call," said Sen.
Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the Intelligence Committee.One senior source told Fox News they presumed that Clayton’s confirmation hearing would forge ahead.Another told Fox the fate of the hearing was "undetermined."On one hand, lawmakers and aides had to first digest what was happening.
Was the President withdrawing Clayton’s nomination? Was he saying he just wasn’t allowing Clayton to testify? Did the head of the executive branch really believe he could bigfoot a congressional hearing? Or was this the president flexing his political muscle, testing Senate Republicans to see how compliant they might be with his intimation — and potentially cancel the hearing on their...