WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump said Thursday that he plans to nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, as .
Trump announced the nomination on social media amid pressure from Congress to name a permanent replacement for Tulsi Gabbard, who last month. Trump faced intense pushback over his decision to , head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director. The job oversees the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies.
The resulting uproar led to a after Democrats said they would refuse to renew foreign intelligence powers unless Trump pulled Pulte鈥檚 nomination and named a permanent nominee.
鈥淔ew people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay,鈥� Trump wrote. 鈥淚 encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.鈥�
Speaking later Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump said he still plans to keep Pulte in the role 鈥渇or a little while鈥� after earlier saying he wants Pulte to . He called Clayton an 鈥渋ncredible talent鈥� and said, 鈥淣obody has better credentials.鈥�
As the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Clayton oversees the most prestigious of the Justice Department鈥檚 prosecution offices, with a vast portfolio ranging from terrorism and espionage cases to security fraud and public corruption.
He took over from interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who after refusing to carry out orders from the Justice Department to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams. The after prosecutors from Washington submitted a request to a judge.
Republicans hope to move quickly on nomination
The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing for Clayton on Wednesday, according to a person who requested anonymity to discuss it ahead of an official notice.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that the Senate hopes to receive Clayton鈥檚 nomination paperwork from the White House as soon as Thursday. 鈥淲e will move quickly,鈥� he said.
Democrats are holding up the renewal of a key surveillance law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, in protest of Trump鈥檚 decision to temporarily tap Pulte. They say they won鈥檛 support an extension of the law, which expires at midnight Friday, until Trump withdraws Pulte鈥檚 appointment.
Trump previously said Pulte would take over on June 19. It is unclear whether the Senate could move quickly enough to confirm Clayton before that date.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what realistic is, but we鈥檙e gonna probe the limits of it,鈥� Thune said.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that he has 鈥渒nown and respected鈥� Clayton for decades and that if Trump had named him as the DNI nominee last week, 鈥渓ots of pain might have been avoided.鈥�
鈥淗is intelligence, temperament and deep commitment to public service will make him a terrific DNI,鈥� Himes said.
Asked about Clayton鈥檚 nomination, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, 鈥淧ulte has to go.鈥�
鈥淗e cannot be in the DNI role,鈥� Schumer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too important.鈥�
Trump’s pick has led SDNY during a tumultuous period
Clayton navigated his way through a 14-month tenure in the Southern District of New York without clashing with the federal judges in the busiest court in the nation, unlike his counterparts in upstate New York and New Jersey. After his interim term expired after 120 days, the judges of the Southern District appointed him as U.S. attorney.
Clayton was sworn in April 2025 on the same day , saying they felt pressured to admit wrongdoing or regret about prosecuting the case against Adams.
Then, weeks later, the office had to withstand controversy over the Trump administration鈥檚 firing of one of its most respected and successful prosecutors, Maurene Comey. She claims because of former FBI Director James Comey.
Under Clayton, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office facilitated the unsealing of thousands of pages of court records from the prosecutions of and 鈥� documents that were made public as part of the Justice Department鈥檚 release of records related to the late sex offender and his longtime confidant.
Clayton filed documents with the court explaining the process the government followed in releasing the materials.
Clayton has also overseen the prosecution of former Venezuelan President and Maduro鈥檚 wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges.
Clayton has overseen cases involving national security threats
Several recent terrorism cases brought by Clayton鈥檚 office touch on the global threats and influences that he鈥檒l be navigating if confirmed as director of national intelligence.
They include the of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi and Iranian citizen accused of plotting 20 attacks in Europe and Canada and planning to attack a Manhattan synagogue and Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, in retaliation for the U.S. war on Iran.
鈥淭here are foreign nations and terrorist organizations that see our success as a threat. A threat that they want eliminated,鈥� Clayton said at a recent press briefing. 鈥淭hat is a stark truth.鈥�
鈥淎nd don鈥檛 take my word for it,鈥� he added. 鈥淭ake their words and their actions. When your enemies tell you something, and when they act, you should know that they mean it.鈥�
The first Trump administration tried in June 2020 to install Clayton, then the chairman of the SEC, as U.S. attorney in Manhattan, but backed down and instead to serve in the post. The reversal came after then-U. S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman following assurances that probes into Trump allies would not be disrupted and that Strauss could lead the office.
At the time, the office was looking into dealings by who was serving as Trump鈥檚 personal attorney, and was also investigating the actions of a state-owned Turkish bank.
___
Neumeister and Sisak reported from New York. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Mary Clare Jalonick and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
