Amna Nawaz:

There was confusion in Congress today after President Trump announced this morning that his pick for director of national intelligence would not show up for his scheduled confirmation hearing this afternoon.

Early today, the president posted -- quote -- "Regarding the approval of our great patriot Jay Clayton, we are canceling the Senate hearing re: DNI today and will not be going forward."

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton first responded online, saying the hearing would go on. Two hours later, he said it would be postponed, calling the president's move regrettable.

Meanwhile, the committee's top Democrat, Senator Mark Warner, said he doesn't know whether Clayton's nomination has been postponed or withdrawn.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA):

I wonder whether Jay Clayton knows whether he has been postponed or withdrawn. And, again, that is a level of chaos, incompetence. When we're talking about our national security, when we're talking about adversaries around the world, what signals does this send?

Amna Nawaz:

Senators were hoping for a swift confirmation so they could move forward with a bipartisan deal to reauthorize the powerful FISA surveillance law.

To break it all down, I'm joined by Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl News.

Andrew, welcome back. Thanks for being here.

Andrew Desiderio, Punchbowl News:

Thank you.

Amna Nawaz:

Let's unravel this a little bit.

Jay Clayton is Trump's DNI pick because there were so many concerns about the acting DNI, Bill Pulte, who has no intelligence background. Democrats said they would not renew this surveillance law with Pulte in charge. Clayton seemed to be moving along. So, what happened?

Andrew Desiderio:

Well, Jay Clayton was on track to be confirmed as soon as tomorrow. That is a rapid time frame for Senate confirmation for such an important position. This is a Cabinet-level position as well. So it would have been one week from nomination to confirmation.

But Democrats were willing to give consent to speed up that process because they have been so concerned about Bill Pulte, who, as you mentioned, has no intelligence or national security experience, taking over that role in acting capacity.

And what Republican senators told me today, as they were dumbfounded and confused and all of that, is that they eventually realized that they think the president did this because the president wants Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence for a certain period of time, even if it's a very short period of time.

Bill Pulte was scheduled to take office as acting DNI on Friday. If the Senate had confirmed Jay Clayton tomorrow, as they were on track to do, Bill Pulte would have never been within 10 feet of the DNI building. So I think that's what in part led the president to do this and to do it in a way that just, again, he didn't notify the Senate majority leader, John Thune.

He didn't notify Tom Cotton in advance, of course, the Senate Intelligence Committee chair. It was extremely bizarre.

Amna Nawaz:

So, if Bill Pulte is still the acting DNI then, what does all that mean for FISA being reauthorized? What are you hearing?

Andrew Desiderio:

Well, Democrats say and they have maintained the position that they are not going to vote to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA so long as someone like Bill Pulte is in charge of the program, because, remember, the director of national intelligence essentially oversees all of FISA and specifically the 702 program, which is a very politically interesting coalition that it brings together, because there are Republican opponents of it.

There are Democratic opponents of it. They kind of unite forces on the far left and on the far right over civil liberties concerns, privacy concerns, the desire to get a warrant before seeking that type of information. So, by nature, you need Democrats and Republicans to pass this.

And, of course, in the Senate, you still have the filibuster, so you need 60 votes. The president wants to get rid of the filibuster, of course.

Amna Nawaz:

So the president also folded in a few other agenda items to that lengthy post about this morning.

He mentioned the SAVE America Act as something he wants to see passed along with the FISA reauthorization. Why has that been installed and what's in that we should understand?

Andrew Desiderio:

Well, the SAVE America Act is the proof of citizenship and voter I.D. bill that Republicans have been pushing for months now. It does not have the votes to pass the Senate, even if they were to get rid of the filibuster, because there are enough Republican opponents of the bill such that it can't move forward.

And, of course, all Democrats oppose it. So this would be a poison pill, of course, if it were added to something that is considered must-pass like FISA Section 702. And Republicans are getting mad at their fellow Republicans internally.

I reported earlier today, for example, that during a closed-door lunch meeting, Senators John Cornyn and John Kennedy confronted their colleague Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, who's been the biggest sort of proponent of this legislation, for trying to overpromise and suggest online, as he has to many factions of the MAGA base, that it is possible somehow for the Senate to pass this legislation, and convincing the president that it's possible too.

And that's what's led the president to continue to make these demands. And so the worry is that they are overpromising and underdelivering, and then, at the same time, this circular firing squad where Republicans are attacking each other, instead of attacking Democrats.

Amna Nawaz:

In just a few seconds, if you can, how does this complicate life for Senate Majority Leader John Thune?

Andrew Desiderio:

Look, his relationship with President Trump has definitely taken a hit. They had to do a lot of rebuilding before John Thune became Senate majority leader, of course.

But he told us, he told me today that their relationship is -- quote -- "fine." So read into that as you will.

Amna Nawaz:

Fine. Fine is a good word.

(Laughter)

Amna Nawaz:

Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl News, thank you for being here.

Andrew Desiderio:

Thank you.