U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, to be the nation’s top spy, despite opposition from Democrats following an angry confirmation hearing.
Clayton fills a role vacated in June when Tulsi Gabbard stepped down after a tenure marked by clashes with congressional Democrats, who accused her of advancing Trump’s political agenda and promoting debunked election claims.
The vote was 51-47 to confirm Clayton for the job of Director of National Intelligence, overseeing the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. The vote was along party lines, with Trump’s Republicans backing his nominee and members of the Democratic caucus voting no.
The controversy over Gabbard and election claims took on new significance after Clayton repeatedly refused during his confirmation hearing to directly acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
With just over three months left before mid-term elections that will decide which party controls Congress, Trump has escalated efforts to make “election security” a central issue, despite established findings that voter fraud is rare.
Democrats have accused Trump of using the issue to cast doubt on any of their election victories.
CONTENTIOUS HEARING
Clayton’s hearing earlier this month at times erupted into shouting, as Clayton insisted to several Democratic senators that he was not an election denier, but would say only that Biden was “certified” as president, went through “the processes,” or “had the most electoral votes,” not that he won six years ago.
Clayton also faced questioning from Democrats about his decision to issue subpoenas ordering New York Times journalists to testify before a federal grand jury after reporting on security concerns involving Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One plane.
A prosecutor said at a court hearing last week that the Trump administration would withdraw the subpoenas after a judge’s close questioning about the investigation.
Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us-senate-confirms-trump-nominee-clayton-nations-top-spy-2026-07-28