Trump Taps Jay Clayton for DNI as Key Surveillance Tool Expires

President Trump announced on June 11, 2026, that he plans to nominate Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard who resigned earlier in June. Bill Pulte was named acting DNI, with a start date of June 19, and has been directed by Trump to downsize the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — a mandate that threatens to hollow out career expertise and independent oversight. Clayton, a Trump appointee with no intelligence background, would oversee the very agencies Pulte is instructed to shrink, raising concerns about politicizing intelligence for partisan loyalty rather than national security. This nomination arrives as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire on Friday, June 13, 2026, after Congress failed to pass reauthorization. The expiration marks the first meaningful lapse of the warrantless surveillance program since 2008, stripping the FBI and NSA of the legal framework for collecting foreign intelligence communications. Critics warn that pairing a weakened, politically driven DNI with an expired surveillance tool creates a double vulnerability: no independent check on intelligence gathering, and no clear authority to reauthorize the program. The House blocked a short-term renewal on June 11, leaving national security in limbo as the administration prioritizes loyalty over competence.