Despite criticism from Democrats, the U.S. has appointed a new director of national intelligence — Reuters
In the U.S., Jay Clayton will assume the duties of Director of National Intelligence starting Monday, August 3. He will replace Bill Pulte, who has been serving as acting director since taking the helm of the agency following Tulsi Hubbard’s resignation.
Pulte announced the upcoming leadership change on social media, noting that the handover will take place on Monday. The U.S. Senate confirmed Clayton’s nomination this week. Republicans supported his appointment, while Democrats opposed it following tense confirmation hearings.
Prior to his appointment, Clayton served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In his new role, he will coordinate the work of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.
The position of Director of National Intelligence became vacant in June following the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard. Her tenure was marked by conflicts with Democrats in Congress, who accused her of advancing U.S. President Donald Trump’s political agenda and spreading debunked claims about the 2020 presidential election.
During Clayton’s confirmation hearings, Democrats also criticized him for repeatedly refusing to explicitly acknowledge Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Bill Pulte, who also heads the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, has been serving as acting Director of National Intelligence since June. During that time, he initiated staff cuts at the intelligence agency, and his appointment drew criticism from Democrats due to his lack of experience in the field of national security.
This was reported by Reuters.
As a reminder, the Pentagon plans to transfer leadership of the group coordinating military aid to Ukraine to another NATO country. This refers to the Security Assistance Group for Ukraine (SAG-U), which operates in Wiesbaden, Germany. At the same time, the U.S. is not withdrawing completely from the group’s work—U.S. military personnel will continue to participate in its activities.
Israel has already blocked the transfer of U.S.-made “Iron Dome” systems to Ukraine, even though the missiles for them were paid for out of the U.S. budget. Now, Washington is discussing expanding defense cooperation with Israel, and U.S. lawmakers fear that Tel Aviv could exert influence over the transfer of other U.S. weapons to Ukraine as well. Against the backdrop of the war in Iran, Kyiv and Israel may also compete for limited stocks of American missiles.
