Trump taps Jay Clayton for DNI after backlash over Pulte
What's next: The nomination comes as Section 702 is set to lapse after the House rejected a short-term extension.
President Donald Trump nominated Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to become director of national intelligence after bipartisan criticism of his earlier decision to install Bill Pulte as acting spy chief. Clayton, a former Trump administration official, is viewed as a more conventional pick for a job that federal law says should go to someone with extensive national security expertise. The post opened after Tulsi Gabbard resigned in May, citing her husband's cancer diagnosis, with her departure effective June 30. The nomination does not remove Pulte from the interim role, and it is unlikely to rescue Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was nearing expiration after the House voted down a temporary extension.