Jay Clayton confirmed as director of national intelligence

Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US intelligence community who was confirmed in a 51-47 vote on Tuesday night, steps into his new job inheriting a diminished office whose authority and relevance are at a historic low point. The new director of national intelligence succeeds Bill Pulte, a combative and controversial housing executive with no national security experience whom Trump installed as acting director for a 40-day tenure. The worst fears of Pulte’s critics — that he would use his access to classified intelligence to persecute the president’s political enemies, fears that several senators described as encouraging a swift confirmation of Clayton — did not come to pass.