RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Washington \u00e2\u0080\u0094 The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Jay Clayton to lead the nation\u0027s intelligence agencies in a party-line vote that could be the key to unlock a path forward on a key surveillance authority that lapsed more than six weeks ago.\u00a0The Senate voted 51 to 47 to install Clayton as director of national intelligence. He replaces Bill Pulte, a controversial housing official with no intelligence experience whom President Trump appointed to the role temporarily. The appointment led Democrats to walk away from a bipartisan deal to reauthorize a warrantless spy tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.\u00a0"I hope this will encourage my colleagues to stop blocking reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Monday on the Senate floor.\u00a0Democrats initially praised the selection of Clayton, who was until recently the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, to oversee the intelligence community. Mr. Trump announced the pick just hours before Section 702 was set to expire in mid-June, and Republicans moved quickly to confirm him as they tried to break the stalemate on the spy authority. But Mr. Trump upended those plans shortly before he was set to appear for his confirmation hearing last month, surprising Republicans.\u00a0Clayton appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee \u00e2\u0080\u0094 about a month later than originally planned \u00e2\u0080\u0094 on July 15, where he declined to say outright that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, angering Democrats. Clayton repeatedly said Biden was "certified" as the president.\u00a0In a statement Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Clayton "now has an opportunity \u00e2\u0080\u0094 and the responsibility \u00e2\u0080\u0094 to demonstrate that intelligence will never be shaped to fit a political narrative."\u00a0"Having known and worked with Jay for years, I was encouraged when he was first nominated for the position of DNI. Unfortunately, I came away from his confirmation process with serious reservations about whether he would be willing to stand up to political pressure when it matters most," Warner said. "Now that he has been confirmed, I sincerely hope he proves those concerns unfounded, because the Intelligence Community deserves steadier leadership than it has received in recent months."\u00a0Even with Clayton confirmed, an extension of the spy statute is likely to remain lapsed for a while longer. The Senate is scheduled to be in town through next week and isn\u0027t expected to return before Sept. 14. The House is already on a five-week recess and is scheduled to be back in Washington on Aug. 31.\u00a0
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