{"id":524,"date":"2026-06-17T22:12:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524"},"modified":"2026-06-17T22:12:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:12:35","slug":"trumps-surprise-dni-announcement-leaves-senate-republicans-reeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

President Donald Trump torched the Senate\u2019s chances of expeditiously confirming Jay Clayton<\/span> to become the next director of national intelligence on Wednesday, effectively grinding the chamber to a halt as members try to pick up the pieces following the presidential blockade.<\/p>\n

Read more Republicans Block Pentagon Investment Ban Aimed at Trump Family<\/a><\/p>\n

Senate Republicans had been confident they would be able to quickly confirm Clayton\u2019s nomination this week. That move would have killed two birds with one stone \u2014 denying Bill Pulte from becoming acting DNI on Friday and potentially allowing them to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.<\/p>\n

Those hopes were dashed in the wee hours of Wednesday morning with the president tying both items to unmovable business<\/u><\/span>, leaving members fuming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some frustration,\u201d Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said of the mood of the conference after members convened for lunch. \u201c702 is going to stay dark, and that\u2019s a danger to the country during the World Cup. We have a lot of people here from around the world, and where we\u2019ve got regimes like the Iranian regime mad at us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve basically blinded our intelligence community,\u201d Cornyn said, noting that 60% of the president\u2019s daily brief, a summary of current national security threats, emanates from intelligence gathered via the spy powers.<\/p>\n

Both Democrats and Republicans raised concerns about Pulte\u2019s credentials for the acting DNI post, and there appeared to be bipartisan support to confirm Clayton as soon as this week.<\/p>\n

Republicans have grown increasingly bothered by recent maneuvers from Trump, with a number of them coming at inopportune times. Those continued with Wednesday\u2019s social media post that came just hours before Clayton was set to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Initially, Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) indicated the committee would proceed, but then hours later he announced that Clayton would no longer appear and the hearing was canceled, calling the development \u201cregrettable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to the tumult was Trump\u2019s demand to also tie the nomination and the FISA reauthorization to both the confirmation of James McDonald, a former member of his legal team who would backfill Clayton as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the SAVE America voting bill, respectively.<\/p>\n

Neither item appears to be going anywhere quickly. The voting measure has no path in the chamber, as it cannot clear the 60-vote threshold and not enough Republicans are behind scrapping the hurdle to enact the \u201ctalking\u201d filibuster.<\/p>\n

McDonald also is subject to the \u201cblue slip\u201d procedure which gives Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) the ability to hold up his confirmation as home-state lawmakers. Members are not banking on them giving him the green light.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t expect any cooperation,\u201d Cornyn said about that possibility.<\/p>\n

This is leaving Senate Republican leaders with no obvious solution on how to get Clayton and the FISA reauthorization cleared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure I know the answer to that just yet, but we\u2019ll take it a day at a time,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters about next steps.<\/p>\n

Read more White House Details Iran Deal, But Trump Warns Bombs Could Still Fall<\/a><\/p>\n

The expedited effort to cement Clayton as DNI was a reaction to Pulte in line to fill the acting role on Friday.<\/p>\n

Democrats initially blocked reauthorization of FISA\u2019s Section 702 over their concerns with Pulte, who has no intelligence experience and has garnered criticism from lawmakers in both parties.<\/p>\n

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) told reporters on Wednesday that the president\u2019s move is \u201canother kink in the slinky that makes no sense,\u201d adding that Trump is complicating Congress\u2019 ability to enact his own agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not the manufacturing department of the Article II branch, we are the board of directors for the Article II branch.\u201d Tillis said. \u201cYou start treating us like that, coordinating with us like that, we won\u2019t have these embarrassing setbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tillis said that FISA is essential and could pose a significant national security challenge in the midst of a series of high-profile events this summer, blaming the president\u2019s decision on poor advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf somebody told the president exactly how Jay Clayton got the permanent position for U.S. attorney and exactly what this was likely to do to 702 reauthorization, and he did it anyway, he made a colossal mistake,\u201d Tillis continued.<\/p>\n

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also indicated this episode demonstrated that the president is not working effectively with the conference. When asked if Senate Republicans and Trump are on the same page, Murkowski told reporters, \u201cHe\u2019s turning it ahead without telling us about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s development follows a number of others from the White House that have roiled the conference, including an ill-timed endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Cornyn, a popular member, and the announcement of Pulte, which jeopardized the FISA renewal.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), a proponent of the SAVE America Act, told reporters on Wednesday that the president is simply doing what he does best: pushing his priorities through Congress. Though Senate Republicans might have been caught off guard, Kennedy said that Trump is simply trying to pass the legislation by attaching it to a must-pass bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think the president is a salesman, and here\u2019s what a salesman do: they sell,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cHe\u2019s a promoter. What do promoters do? They promote. He\u2019s got two speeds: uninterested and the speed of light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond causing frustration within the Republican conference, the president\u2019s surprise announcement makes the path forward on both FISA and Clayton\u2019s nomination murky. Senate Democrats are calling on Republicans to work with them to choose a new nominee in exchange for lifting their hold on Section 702.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time Republicans are searching for a path forward, Trump slams the door shut,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cHe pulled the rug out from under his Republicans, who were trying to find that path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Senators Suspect Trump Shifted Secret Service Funds to Build His Ballroom<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat shambles, what an embarrassment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe made a colossal mistake,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trump-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cHe made a colossal mistake,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T22:12:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T22:12:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524\"},\"wordCount\":1027,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Trump White House\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T22:12:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg\",\"width\":1618,\"height\":1223,\"caption\":\"U.S. President Donald Trump inspects an honour guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov\\\/Pool Photo via AP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=524#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling - Modern Home Journals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"\u201cHe made a colossal mistake,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis said.","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-06-17T22:12:35+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling","datePublished":"2026-06-17T22:12:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524"},"wordCount":1027,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg","articleSection":["Trump White House"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524","name":"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-06-17T22:12:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e6ab1db970e51c185fb1d02017e48f0b.jpeg","width":1618,"height":1223,"caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump inspects an honour guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov\/Pool Photo via AP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=524#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump\u2019s Surprise DNI Announcement Leaves Senate Republicans Reeling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}