Jay Clayton once chaired the US Securities and Exchange Commission
US president Donald Trump has nominated Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, for the US national intelligence director post, reported the Associated Press.
The role entails supervising the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies. If the nomination is successful, Clayton will succeed Tulsi Gabbard, who is set to step down on June 30.
Based in Manhattan, Clayton manages a prosecution office that has handled cases involving terrorism, espionage, security fraud, and public corruption. He has been US attorney for 14 months.
He was initially an interim attorney before Southern District judges made the appointment permanent and he was sworn in in April 2025. During his time in the role, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office enabled the unsealing of court records from the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell prosecutions.
Clayton also supervised the prosecution of former Venezuela president, Nicolás Maduro, and wife Cilia Flores on drug trafficking charges. Moreover, his office was involved in the arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who was allegedly targeting a Manhattan synagogue and Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Arizona in a retaliatory attack over the US-Iran war.
At one point, Clayton chaired the SEC.
Trump publicized Clayton’s nomination in a social media post on Thursday June 11 following Congress’ push for him to name Gabbard’s permanent successor. Trump had appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte as acting director in a move that caused Democrats in Congress to threaten to deny the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s renewal until Pulte’s appointment was rescinded. Pulte was supposed to commence in the role on June 19.
Senate majority leader John Thune told the press that the Senate expected to receive Clayton’s nomination paperwork from the White House next week. AP News reported that the Senate intelligence committee intends to conduct a confirmation hearing next Wednesday June 17.
Clayton’s nomination also received support from the Democratic party. Jim Himes, who is on the House intelligence committee, expressed his respect for Clayton and said in a statement published by AP News that “lots of pain might have been avoided” if Trump had initially nominated Clayton.
“[Clayton’s] intelligence, temperament and deep commitment to public service will make him a terrific DNI,” Himes said in a statement published by AP News.
