WASHINGTON, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted along party lines to confirm former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence.
The upper chamber voted 51-47 to approve the nomination, allowing Clayton -- also the former head of the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, and the current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York -- to fill in the key position.
The confirmation came after President Donald Trump faced bipartisan concerns over his decision in early June to appoint Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. Pulte, who previously led the Federal Housing Finance Agency, served as interim head of the intelligence community before Clayton's confirmation.
Established in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to improve coordination and information sharing among U.S. intelligence agencies.
In late May, Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, resigned as the Republican president's director of national intelligence, becoming the fourth senior administration official to depart during Trump's second term.
Gabbard's decision may have been driven in part by her opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran that began on Feb. 28, according to earlier U.S. media reports. ■