Trump tries to toss key intelligence post into chaos — and Senate Republicans step into the pitch

The future of American national security was thrown into uncertainty once again on Wednesday, after an early morning social media post from President Donald Trump appeared to put the confirmation of a top intelligence nominee on hold — and then lawmakers signaled they planned to move ahead with a key Senate hearing anyway.

Just before 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the president wrote that a scheduled hearing to consider Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as the next Director of National Intelligence would be “canceled,” and that the nomination wouldn’t be moving forward until Clayton’s replacement as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is “approved.” 

But senators — including some of Trump’s most loyal allies — didn’t seem to get the message.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote in his own social media post Wednesday that Clayton remains the “pending nominee” and said his committee “will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., echoed that message of defiance, telling reporters that “Chairman Cotton is planning to proceed.”

“And then from there on, we’ll just have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on kind of what the White House position is on this,” Thune continued.

When Thune was asked why he thought Trump was trying to delay the hearing, Thune’s answer was ominous: “Good question.”

It’s unclear whether Clayton will actually appear before the committee on Wednesday despite Trump’s comments. But the Senate GOP’s decision to move forward with the hearing, at least for now, underscores a growing willingness among some Republicans — particularly in the Senate — to chart their own course when it comes to the president’s legislative demands.

The Clayton nomination has become the lynchpin to unlocking the future of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (or FISA) program, with Democrats refusing to renew the controversial Section 702 surveillance program until Trump’s temporary appointment of Bill Pulte as the acting head of national intelligence is no longer a possibility.

Democrats fear that Pulte, with no intelligence resume but plenty of experience in following Trump’s orders, would be little more than a tool for the president — likely to use the post to go after the Trump’s perceived Democratic enemies in the run up to the midterms.

Play

In his current role as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte has helped lay the groundwork for investigations into, among others, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who took Trump to court.