Jay Clayton to succeed Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence starting Monday
Bill Pulte will officially end his two-month tenure as acting director of national intelligence on Monday, handing over leadership to Jay Clayton. The housing regulator, who served as a one-time Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday. The administration announced that Jay Clayton would replace Pulte, who was appointed as an interim director after the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard. While Pulte lacked prior national security experience, he successfully executed sharp staffing cuts to right-size the agency. During his brief tenure, Pulte helped the administration declassify documents to support the false claims of election fraud made by President Trump. Jay Clayton has emphasized his national security experience to assuage senators. However, he lost bipartisan support during a contentious hearing where he refused to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. The transition will occur quickly following the Senate's party-line confirmation of Jay Clayton.