Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The Senate confirms Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence after he repeatedly declined to say Biden won the 2020 election
The July 28, 2026 vote was party-line, with every Republican in favor and every Democrat opposed.
What happened
On July 28, 2026, the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. Clayton, the former SEC chairman, had been U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was sworn in on August 3.
During his confirmation hearings Clayton repeatedly declined to say that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election or that Trump had lost it. Trump had nominated him on June 11, on CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s recommendation, amid the backlash to acting director Bill Pulte.
Trump briefly postponed the hearing until a successor for Clayton’s prosecutor post was confirmed. Senate Republican leaders had hoped to confirm him quickly to end Pulte’s tenure. In his final hours Pulte claimed to have cut 30 percent of the office’s staff and urged Trump to delay the swearing-in.
Who benefited
Trump got a Senate-confirmed intelligence chief who would not contradict his claims about 2020. He replaced a stopgap whose lack of clearance had cost the administration the FISA 702 renewal. Senate Republicans ended the Pulte standoff with a nominee acceptable to their conference.
Who wanted something
Ratcliffe recommended Clayton, and Senate Majority Leader Thune pushed the confirmation to displace Pulte. Trump accepted a credentialed nominee but set the timing to protect his control of the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office. Clayton’s hearing answers matched the president’s position on the election.
Who lost out
The intelligence community got a director who, under oath, would not affirm the result of a lawful election. That office is charged with protecting elections from foreign interference. Senate Democrats lost any bipartisan basis for a post that has been confirmed with cross-party votes in the past.
Why it matters
The director of national intelligence oversees the agencies that assess threats to U.S. elections, and this one would not say who won the last presidential election. The confirmation came before the 2026 midterms, with Trump’s position on 2020 left unchallenged by the person overseeing the assessments.
Sources Democracy Now!Wikipedia (cites NYT, Politico)Wikipedia (cites NYT)