President Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, was sworn in Monday, ending acting Director Bill Pulte’s two-month tenure atop the intelligence community.
The Senate confirmed Clayton the previous Tuesday, but he was not immediately sworn in, an unusual delay that left Pulte in the job for another week and drew bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
Pulte announced the handover Saturday in a post on X from his personal account. “After speaking with the President Trump and Jay Clayton, we have decided the DNI transition will take place this coming Monday,” he wrote. “I am eternally grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to serve as Director of National Intelligence.”
Trump tapped Pulte, who also runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as interim intelligence director after Tulsi Gabbard resigned. The choice frustrated Republican senators who said Pulte lacked national security credentials for the post. During his brief tenure, Pulte carried out five rounds of layoffs at ODNI and released 2020 intelligence documents on Chinese election interference capabilities, material the Associated Press reported was largely recycled and already known.
Clayton, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and past chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was confirmed along party lines. He lost bipartisan support during a contentious confirmation hearing in which he repeatedly declined to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
“The safety and security of the American people will be our North Star, and we will work to make sure the American people have complete confidence in the IC through proper oversight, transparency, and accountability,” Clayton said in a statement announcing the swearing-in. “This includes ensuring the vital work of our IC is never weaponized for political motives.”
Clayton added that he intends to lead an organization that is “streamlined, agile, team-oriented, and mission-focused.”
Pulte offered his successor “complete and total support” as he exits the role. “I have no doubt that Jay will do a tremendous job,” he wrote.
Senators on both sides of the aisle said they were surprised Pulte remained in the job even after Clayton’s confirmation. King said there was no substantive intelligence reason to delay the transition once a successor had cleared the Senate.
