Jay Clayton Expected to Win Senate Confirmation as DNI Despite Warner Opposition Over Post Independence Concerns

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," not ABC, that he will not vote to confirm Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, as director of national intelligence, calling himself "bitterly disappointed" by Clayton's July 15 committee testimony 1. Warner cited Clayton's refusal before the committee to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, when Clayton would affirm only that Biden was "certified," though Clayton later told Warner near the hearing's end that Biden was "fairly and duly elected" 1. Warner said he expects Clayton to be confirmed regardless, since Republicans control the Senate and do not need Democratic votes 12. President Trump had earlier delayed Clayton's confirmation hearing and directed him not to appear, using the nomination as leverage to press Congress on the SAVE America Act voter ID bill, before Clayton ultimately testified to the committee in Washington on July 15 2.