From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
US Senate panel narrowly backs Trump nominee Clayton to be director of national intel
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The US Senate Intelligence Committee backed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Jay Clayton, to become the director of national intelligence, the committee’s Republican chairman says, days after a confirmation hearing in which Clayton refused to acknowledge former president Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“The committee just voted to move Mr. Clayton’s nomination to the full Senate,” Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton tells reporters.
Cotton says the vote was 9-8. He does not provide a party breakdown, but nine of the committee’s members are Republicans and eight are Democrats or an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
The committee vote, which sends Clayton’s nomination for the post for consideration by the 100-member Senate, comes after a confirmation hearing last week in which Clayton angered Democrats by refusing to directly acknowledge Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
A full Senate vote on Clayton’s confirmation has not been scheduled. He will need just a simple majority in the 100-member Senate to be confirmed to the position overseeing the 18-agency US intelligence community.
Trump’s Republicans hold a 53-47-seat majority in the chamber.
Lawmakers also questioned Clayton during the hearing about his recent subpoenas of New York Times journalists in his current role as the US Attorney for Manhattan.
The Times of Israel Community.