President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is nominating Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence, moving to fill a post that had been left without a permanent leader after Tulsi Gabbard resigned last month. Trump made the announcement on social media, saying he is nominating federal prosecutor Jay Clayton to lead the next director of National Intelligence.
The choice matters now because Congress had been pressing Trump to name a permanent replacement, and the intelligence post has become one of the most visible gaps in his national security team. Clayton, who is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, would bring a very different résumé to the job than the one he would replace if the Senate confirms him.
His current role in Manhattan gives Clayton a profile that is unusual for the intelligence director’s office. He is serving as the top federal prosecutor in one of the country’s most closely watched districts, after previously leading the SEC, where he oversaw Wall Street regulation and enforcement. Trump has now chosen him for a position that sits at the center of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.
The move also follows weeks of frustration over how the administration handled the vacancy. Trump had faced pushback over his decision to name Bill Pulte as acting director, a stopgap arrangement that underscored how long the White House had gone without a permanent pick. By nominating Clayton, Trump is signaling that he wants to settle the question rather than leave the role in temporary hands.
What comes next is the Senate. Clayton’s nomination now enters the confirmation process, where lawmakers will decide whether the former SEC chairman and current federal prosecutor should take over the intelligence office full time. For now, the clearest answer is that Trump has finally moved to fill a position Congress had been demanding he resolve.
