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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed the confirmation process for his nominee to lead the country’s intelligence agencies, a surprise move that boosted the Senate’s efforts to renew a vital surveillance program and fueled new tensions with some Republicans on Capitol Hill.
In a statement posted on social media on the eve of the Group of Seven Summit in France, Trump announced that he was delaying the nomination of federal prosecutor Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence just hours before his trial, despite two nominations for the nominee and Republican efforts to speed up the confirmation process this week.
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Tom Cotton, said that Republicans will continue with the hearing of Clayton’s case, “unless the president orders him not to appear or withdraw his appointment.” But Cotton later retracted it, saying it was “sad” that Trump had ordered Clayton not to appear.
“Mr. Clayton is a patriot and has been appointed to the highest degree as the president has repeatedly said,” said Cotton. “While today’s hearing has unfortunately been postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”
Criticism of Pulte’s appointment
Trump’s efforts to delay Clayton make it possible that his interim pick for intelligence, former Treasury chief Bill Pulte, will take over when outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard leaves office Friday to spend time with her husband as he battles cancer.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been highly critical of Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no known national security background and who has used his current administration perch to target the president’s opponents.
Trump defended Pulte, calling him “good” and “talented” in his social media post. Speaking to reporters in France, Trump called the quick process to get Clayton legalized “a hasty move by the Democrats.”
“Why are they afraid of this guy? They’re so afraid of him,” Trump said, referring to Pulte. “They’ll do anything to keep Pulte out of there.”
Caught in the middle is the renewal of Section 702 of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, a bipartisan law that aims to prevent terrorist attacks by monitoring the communications of foreign targets outside the United States.
Democrats said they would not provide the votes needed to pass the bill unless Pulte’s nomination was temporarily revoked, and the current mandate expired last week.
Also strange, Trump said on his social media that he will not sign the renewal of FISA without his legislation to require proof of citizenship for all voters – who do not have enough votes to pass the Senate – and that he does not want to remove Clayton from his current position as the US attorney for the Southern District of New York until his replacement, James McDonald, is approved.
‘More clarity’ is needed: Tune
Trump’s position sent Senate Republicans scoffing, and it was unclear whether they would challenge Trump’s bid to delay Clayton’s nomination or try to move it forward.
“We’re going to have to take it one day until we get more clarity on what the White House’s position is on this,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, told reporters Wednesday morning. He said he did not know why Trump was involved.
“Good question,” he said.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Trump’s post “an extraordinary display of incompetence from a president who seems intent on turning America’s national security into a political conversation.”
“The biggest obstacle to solving these problems has not been the Senate Democrats or the Senate Republicans,” Warner said. “It’s been chaos and confusion from the White House itself.”
A series of standoffs
It was the latest in a series of disagreements between Trump and Senate Republicans this year.
A bill to fund Trump’s immigration facilities was delayed for weeks as Republicans objected to a $1.8-billion US “anti-weapons” fund and a $1-billion US security request for the White House, including his new ballroom. The bill was passed after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the deal would not go forward, and Republican leaders decided to withdraw the security deposit from the bill.
Trump then appointed Pulte as interim intelligence director just as the FISA renewal loomed, derailing separate negotiations. Republicans urged the White House to withdraw the nomination, to no avail.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Trump’s latest move “undermines the results he wants.”
“Jay Clayton was on the verge of getting a very good hearing and maybe getting some Democratic support, and now we’re in a position where it could be a reason that [FISA Section] 702 is not reauthorized,” Tillis said. “That’s a mistake.”
Tillis called Pulte a “sycophant” for Trump.
“How could anyone think he would be a reliable choice?”
