By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee backed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Jay Clayton, to become the top U.S. spy, the committee’s Republican chairman said on Tuesday, days after a confirmation hearing in which Clayton refused to acknowledge ex-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 told reporters.
Cotton said the vote was 9-8. He did 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 Director of National Intelligence post for consideration by the 100-member Senate, came after a confirmation hearing last week in which Clayton angered Democrats by refusing to directly acknowledge that Trump’s loss to Biden 2020 presidential election.
Propelled by the Republican president’s false claims that U.S. elections are “rigged” and his refusal to accept his 2020 electoral loss to Biden, the Trump administration has sought to increase federal oversight of U.S. elections and change the way many Americans vote.
A day after Clayton’s hearing, Trump gave an evening address in which he repeated his long-running attacks on election security.
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 U.S. intelligence community.
Trump’s Republicans control 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 U.S. Attorney for Manhattan.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by David Ljumggren, editing by Deepa Babington)
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