The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence at a time when President Donald Trump has started reiterating his false claims about the 2020 election, which he lost.

The 51-47 vote in the Senate was along party lines with Republicans supporting the appointment and Democrats voting against.

After the vote, Trump heaped praise on Clayton posting on Truth Social: "Jay is outstanding in every way, and will do a spectacular job as Director!"

Clayton stresses he isn't 'an election denier'

Clayton will now lead the 18 intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which have been reeling from leadership turmoil and staff cuts.

He is a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman and US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Democrats opposed Clayton's nomination after he repeatedly declined during his confirmation hearing to explicitly state that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, saying only that the result had been "certified."

"I'm not an election denier," Clayton said, without directly answering the question.

Trump renews voter fraud claims

Clayton replaces Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned in June, and Trump temporarily installed Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief.

Pulte, a Trump loyalist with no national security experience, oversaw a tumultuous tenure marked by a roughly 30% staff reduction and the release of 2020 intelligence documents detailing China's capacity to interfere in US politics and vulnerabilities in the election system.

Trump lately has renewed false claims about the 2020 election, drawing scrutiny over the administration's handling of intelligence agencies ahead of the US midterm elections.

California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff told CNN that Clayton's refusal to unequivocally state that Biden won the 2020 election "suggests that if the president [Trump] wants the intelligence agencies to cook up something to justify voter interference in the midterm elections, that Jay Clayton doesn't have the backbone to stand up to him."

Edited by: Rana Taha

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