US Senate confirms Jay Clayton to replace Bill Pulte as Trump's spy chief

Magdalena Del Valle, Bloomberg News on Jul 28, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the Trump administration’s spy chief, replacing an interim candidate who sparked broad concerns about the powerful role being used to influence U.S. elections.

Clayton, who was the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was confirmed as director of national intelligence by a vote of 51 to 47.

He will replace housing regulator Bill Pulte, whose appointment as acting director drew criticism for his lack of national security experience and his role in opening mortgage fraud investigations of perceived opponents of President Donald Trump, such as Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

Under Pulte, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has seen a number of staff reductions, with the interim director announcing a fifth wave of terminations Tuesday — the day his replacement was set to be confirmed. In a post on X, Pulte said the layoffs represent an “approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago” and that this round is “Near Final.”

Trump has long expressed suspicion and disdain for U.S. spy operations and the people who work in them. He has also said that he would like the agency to shrink. And while many lawmakers balked at Pulte’s appointment, Clayton’s nomination process hasn’t exactly endeared him to the administration’s critics.

At his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Clayton repeatedly declined to say if Joe Biden won the 2020 election. That raised concerns about whether he would be willing to contradict the president in his new position, especially when Trump revived unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 vote in a prime-time address just a day after the hearing.

“I’m not an election denier,” Clayton told the intelligence committee. But under questioning from Senator Jon Ossoff, he declined to say who won, adding “I’m not going to do this with you.”

Clayton is a golf buddy of Trump’s and, as the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, handled high-profile cases for the administration as the de facto sheriff of Wall Street. That includes the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — after his capture by U.S. special forces — and the founders of First Brands and Tricolor.

Set to replace Clayton as Manhattan’s U.S. attorney is James McDonald, a Sullivan & Cromwell partner who was part of Trump’s legal team in an appeal related to the president’s criminal conviction involving payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The oDNI job originally opened up after Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat and long-time critic of foreign U.S. military interventions, said she was stepping down to help her husband after a bone-cancer diagnosis

Her tenure was marked by several controversies, such as showing up at an FBI search at an election office in Georgia, while several people familiar with the matter said she was often excluded from White House meetings — including ahead of the U.S. operation to capture Maduro.