On Tuesday, the United States Senate confirmed Jay Clayton to serve as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in a 51-47 vote. Clayton, who previously served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and as a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, was largely expected to be confirmed, as the Senate will hold a procedural vote to limit debate, which requires a simple majority to move forward and confirm the nominee.
ODNI Layoffs
Clayton’s confirmation also came just hours after the former Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte announced a fifth and “near final” round of terminations within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). On Sunday, the office confirmed that a fourth round of layoffs had been completed since he took over on June 19.
Pulte hadn’t disclosed how many workers faced termination, or the baseline he used to calculate the latest 30% reduction of staff, but a large part of ODNI’s workforce does include personnel detailed from other agencies in the U.S. intelligence community (IC), with many expected to take on other roles at those agencies.
The first, second, and third rounds occurred shortly after Pulte assumed the role as acting chief, taking over for former DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who had initiated the ODNI 2.0 restructuring plan nearly a year ago in August 2025, which called for cutting 500 people, or about 30% to 40% of its workforce.
Temporary Acting Director
President Donald Trump named Bill Pulte the acting DNI in June, replacing Gabbard, who stepped down to care for her husband, Abraham Williams, as he battles an extremely rare form of bone cancer. Her resignation was announced on May 22 and became effective on June 30.
However, Pulte does not have an intelligence background or any prior experience in national security or military affairs, as was required by law.
Before being appointed to temporarily fill the position, his background was focused on business and housing finance. He previously served as the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and oversaw government-sponsored mortgage entities.
Pulte was reportedly tasked with heading ODNI as he was brought on to thin the ranks within the cabinet-level agency, which was only created in 2004 in response to the 9/11 attacks to improve information sharing and to address gaps in the IC.
Critics have maintained for the past two decades that the office is redundant and overstaffed. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) had previously proposed that the ODNI be capped at just 650 full-time staff members, and that the majority of its personnel should be sent back to their respective home agencies to do “real intelligence work” instead of “bureaucratic make-work.”
It is unclear if additional layoffs can be expected under Clayton.
