Trump delays spy nominee Clayton's confirmation, wants voter ID law

US President Donald Trump has delayed the confirmation hearing of Jay Clayton, his nominee for director of national intelligence, amid a push for a strict voter identification bill.

​U.S. President Donald Trump threw doubt on Wednesday on the confirmation of his nominee to become ‌the ​nation's top spy, Jay Clayton, ordering its delay in an effort to force Congress to pass a strict voter identification bill.

Republicans who had been pushing for rapid Senate approval of Clayton, the top U.S. attorney for Manhattan, had said his confirmation hearing would go ahead as scheduled, until Trump ordered him not to appear. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on X ‌that the hearing would be postponedbut he looked forward to proceeding with the nomination in the near future.

"It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today. Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly," Cotton said on X. Trump nominated Clayton less than a week ago as director of national intelligence amid a political backlash over the loyalist he picked to fill the role temporarily.

That close ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, has no national security experience, raising concerns even among ‌some Republicans that he could "weaponize" intelligence against Trump's perceived political foes. Trump then nominated James McDonald, one of his personal lawyers, to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. McDonald needs Senate approval for that role.

Trump, in France, for a G7 ‌summit, said in a social media post that he did not want to remove Clayton from his post until McDonald was in place. He said Pulte would remain as acting DNI, adding that his fellow Republicans had agreed with Democrats to remove Pulte as acting spy chief in return for the approval of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Trump's action also cast doubt on hopes for a bipartisan agreement for the renewal of Section 702, seen as a crucial national security tool. "However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton ... that Pulte would be gone before the (Democrats) would vote on FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)," he said.

"Not complicated, actually, the ⁠Republicans fell into ​a trap," Trump wrote. Trump said he would not approve the renewal of ⁠FISA Section 702 without passage of his SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a provision critics say would strip millions of Americans of their right to vote.

Trump has said Save America would deliver his Republicans a "guaranteed" win in November's midterm elections. With Trump's approval rating dropping, polls ⁠show that his party will struggle to keep their slim control of the House and Senate when Americans head to the polls this year. Democrats made their opposition clear.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York denounced Trump's remarks in comments opening the Senate. "The SAVE Act is perhaps the most vicious piece of ​anti-voting rights legislation Trump has ever come up with. It has absolutely nothing - nothing - to do with FISA whatsoever," he said. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, called Wednesday's events "an extraordinary display of dysfunction." He told ⁠reporters he did not believe Clayton would appear for the hearing.

TIMING UNCLEAR Presidents cannot unilaterally cancel Senate hearings, which are set so lawmakers can provide advice and consent on presidential nominees. But Clayton's decision not to appear postponed the session. He could not be reached for comment.

Trump's choice of Clayton to oversee the nation's 18 intelligence agencies had been greeted with ⁠relief. ​While he lacks deep national security experience, he is broadly respected across party lines. Democrats had said they were open to agreeing to his confirmation as soon as this week, if his hearing went well.

Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate majority leader, told a news conference on Tuesday that Clayton is "eminently qualified" and that his position as U.S. attorney meant he deals with intelligence matters. APPOINTMENT TIED TO SURVEILLANCE LAW

FISA Section 702 allows law enforcement to collect foreign intelligence that can include information about Americans without judicial authorization. Democrats had said they would ⁠withhold the votes to renew Section 702 while Pulte was acting DNI, setting up the conflict that emerged on Wednesday with both Trump and their party seeking to use the DNI and Section 702 votes to exert leverage.

Clayton's current role in Manhattan is one ⁠of the most coveted and powerful positions for prosecutors in the Justice Department. ⁠His office is overseeing the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was seized in a lightning raid on January 3. Democrats had hoped Pulte would spend little or no time as interim intelligence director after Tulsi Gabbard's last day on June 19. Gabbard, a former Democrat with limited intelligence experience, had been accused by Democrats of advancing Trump's political agenda and promoting debunked election claims.

She resigned to spend more ‌time with her husband as he undergoes cancer ‌treatment.