The US Senate voted to confirm Jay Clayton as the director of national intelligence on Tuesday, giving Trump another key ally directing the nation’s intelligence apparatus.
The tally, 51-47, fell along party lines, with all Republicans supporting his nomination and all Democrats opposing it.
Clayton, currently the US attorney for the southern district of New York, will replace Bill Pulte, a staunch Trump loyalist who had been temporarily serving in the role since June. Trump’s first director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned earlier this year. Clayton served as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump’s first term.
During his confirmation hearing on 15 July, Clayton sidestepped several questions about the 2020 election and declined to say that Trump lost it.
During an interview on CNBC in June, Clayton also suggested there was something amiss about the long period California takes to count ballots. “We had a problem, a deep problem with voting in America,” he said on the network. “On the integrity side, we’re doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it.” Clayton also would not say during his confirmation hearing whether voter fraud was a problem in American elections, even though several studies have shown it is exceedingly rare.