00:00The yeas are 51, the nays are 47, and the nomination is confirmed.
00:04Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table,
00:08and the president will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
00:12Mr. President.
00:13Senator from Arkansas.
00:14I speak today in support of Mr. Jay Clayton's nomination to be the next Director of National Intelligence.
00:19Earlier this month, Mr. Clayton appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee,
00:23where he answered hundreds of written questions for the record
00:26and provided detailed testimony on his approach to serving in this new role.
00:30As part of these discussions, Mr. Clayton assured the committee that he would assist our efforts
00:35to return the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to its original size, scope, and mission.
00:40He also pledged to work with the committee to secure the essential funding the intelligence community needs.
00:47Based on the shortcomings that my committee staff has identified,
00:50I project that any supplemental appropriations bill or reconciliation bill must include
00:57around $40 billion for our intelligence agencies.
01:01I look forward to working with Mr. Clayton to meet this vital need.
01:05Mr. President, I speak today in opposition to the nomination of Jay Clayton
01:11to be Director of National Intelligence.
01:13He has repeated baseless conspiracy theories about American elections,
01:20refused to acknowledge who won the 2020 election,
01:25and participated in an abusive investigation of American journalists
01:30while providing false testimony to Congress about that investigation.
01:37It has been clear for months that under this administration,
01:41the main qualification to be DNI is the willingness to use the position
01:46to spread conspiracy theories about elections
01:49and to help Donald Trump make it harder for Americans to vote.
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