[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 100 (Monday, June 15, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2773-S2774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NOMINATION OF WALTER CLAYTON

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, on Thursday President Trump nominated Jay 
Clayton the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York to be 
the Director of National Intelligence. He has an impressive resume with 
experience in both the public sector and the private sector, and he has 
the kind of skill set necessary for managing issues as complex and 
varied as those faced by the Director of National Intelligence.
  For some perspective from the other side of the aisle, the Democratic 
vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee noted on Thursday, 
and I quote:

       I have known and respected Jay Clayton for many years and 
     believe he is a capable public servant.


[[Page S2774]]


  Republicans here in the Senate have built a record of acting quickly 
on the President's nominees, and we are going to do the same with Mr. 
Clayton. The Senate Intelligence Committee has already announced that 
it will hold a hearing on Mr. Clayton's nomination this week.
  Once he is approved by the committee, it is my intention to bring his 
nomination to the floor very quickly, and I hope we will have 
bipartisan support for making that happen.
  While we didn't know exactly when it would arrive, we knew a 
nomination like Mr. Clayton's was coming. How? Because the President 
made it very clear that his choice of Bill Pulte for Acting Director of 
National Intelligence was a temporary pick.
  Despite this, Democrats decided to hold section 702 of FISA hostage 
over Mr. Pulte's temporary, short-term appointment. Thanks to their 
decision, as of Friday, this program authorization has lapsed.
  What does that mean? It means the Nation is currently operating 
without the full capacity of its most critical intelligence-gathering 
tool. Let that sink in for just a minute. Thanks to Democrats' actions, 
the Nation is currently operating without the full capacity of its most 
critical intelligence-gathering tool all over a short-term, temporary 
Presidential appointment.
  You certainly don't have to take my word for it on the importance of 
the 702 program to the security of our Nation. Let me just read a few 
quotes from my Democratic colleagues last time we were in danger of 
having the program authorization lapse. This was from the Democrat 
leader:

       [T]his very important tool for ensuring our national 
     security is going to lapse, and that would be unacceptable.

  From the senior Democrat from Delaware, and I quote again:

       This program is critical to the security of our nation, and 
     we could not permit it to lapse.

  From the senior Democrat from New Mexico, and I quote again:

       As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I've learned the 
     vital role that FISA's Section 702 authority plays in 
     bolstering our nation's ability to effectively fight 
     terrorism, disrupt foreign cyberattacks, impede drug 
     trafficking, and protect U.S. troops. For our national 
     security and the safety of the American people, it is simply 
     too important of a tool to let it expire.

  Well, just last week the Democrat vice chairman of the Senate 
Intelligence Committee called section 702, and I quote again:

       [O]ne of the most important intelligence tools [that] we 
     have.

  And yet despite all this, despite my Democrat colleagues' clear 
awareness and acknowledgment of the importance of this program, they 
voted to let the authorization for this program lapse.
  And what the consequences of that will be, we cannot fully predict. 
We do know information secured through this program has been repeatedly 
used to help protect our Nation and American lives from a range of 
threats from fentanyl to cyber attacks to terrorism. And that 
information from this program is used on a near daily basis by those 
entrusted with the defense of our country.
  The Democrat vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee has 
himself referred to the suspension of FISA--and I quote again--``a 
high-risk proposition.''
  So while we can't know the consequences of Democrats' decision to 
allow section 702 authorization to lapse, we do know it is almost 
certainly putting our Nation at greater risk. And I hope and pray that 
my Democrat colleagues will rethink their decision to take this program 
hostage and to restore this key safeguard of our country's security.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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