The Senate Intelligence Committee scheduled a new confirmation hearing Tuesday for Jay Clayton’s nomination to be director of national intelligence after President Donald Trump upended the initial date.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The panel plans to meet July 15, nearly a month after the earlier hearing was postponed.Trump last month nominated Clayton, who has been serving as U.S.attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the Senate committee scheduled a confirmation hearing for June 17.
Trump, however, demanded that the Intelligence Committee abandon the hearing just hours before it was set to take place over disagreements with Democrats.Trump said at the time that Clayton’s nomination should not move forward until James McDonald, a partner at top law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and a former federal prosecutor, was confirmed to replace Clayton in New York.The White House does not appear to have sent McDonald’s nomination to the Senate yet.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Clayton’s new hearing date and whether Trump had any objections to it.Add NBC News to GoogleSenate postpones hearing for DNI nominee Clayton after Trump tells him not to show up03:00When Trump delayed Clayton’s confirmation hearing last month, he accused Republicans of moving “so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton.” He forced Senate Republicans to cancel the hearing then because of his frustration over the expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, and because the voter ID bill Trump backs, the SAVE America Act, does not have enough votes to pass Congress.Several key Democrats have spoken positively about Clayton, including Sen.
Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee.Rep.Jim Himes, of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on X last month, “His int...