Senate Intelligence Committee holds Jay Clayton DNI hearing

President Donald Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, Jay Clayton, will face the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in a confirmation hearing that could resolve a political impasse over the nation's top intelligence post and a key surveillance tool. The hearing, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EDT, comes weeks after Trump abruptly delayed the process, allowing his controversial interim appointee, Bill Pulte, to assume the role.

Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is seen by lawmakers in both parties as a more conventional choice compared to Pulte. Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, took over as acting director on June 19 following the resignation of former director Tulsi Gabbard, who cited her husband's cancer diagnosis. Democrats and some Republicans have expressed concern over Pulte's lack of intelligence experience and his history of using his previous administrative role to investigate the president's perceived political adversaries.

The nomination has become entangled with the stalled reauthorization of Section 702 of the...