Yasin Gungor
17 June 2026•Update: 17 June 2026
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday cancelled the Senate confirmation hearing for the director of national intelligence (DNI) in a tactical maneuver to pressure lawmakers on surveillance and election laws.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton would not proceed until Jamie McDonald is approved to succeed him as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The move would keep William Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, in the acting intelligence post after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard steps down later this month.
The nomination of Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no intelligence or national security experience, has triggered pushback from lawmakers in both parties.
Trump said Republicans had agreed to remove Pulte as acting DNI as part of an understanding tied to the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), but accused Democrats of failing to uphold their end of the arrangement.
"The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats," Trump wrote. “Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal."
FISA, which governs certain US national security surveillance activities, expired last Friday.
Trump also linked any future reauthorization of the law to passage of the SAVE America Act, legislation focused on voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements.
“I will not approve FISA without the SSAVE America Act going along with it,” he said.
'Today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed': Senator
Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France that he will not sign the FISA.
Asked how long he expects Pulte to be acting DNI, Trump replied: "As long as it takes to get everybody else approved."
Trump said Pulte is "a very legitimate guy, he's very smart, he's a brilliant guy."
"It was like a rush act by the Democrats, and they said they were going to approve FISA, and I said, ‘But we want FISA approved, but we want the SAVE America Act approved, voter ID, proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots with exceptions,’ … I'm not going to sign FISA unless (SAVE America Act) is done."
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Tom Cotton, said the hearing for Clayton will proceed "as scheduled."
"Jay Clayton is a pending nominee before the Intelligence Committee. We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination," Cotton wrote on US social media company X.
Cotton later said it is "regrettable" that Trump directed Clayton not to appear at the confirmation hearing.
"Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future," he added.
