The Senate intelligence committee postponed its confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Jay Clayton, after the president upended the committee’s proceedings earlier Wednesday.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the committee chairman, wrote in a post on X that it was “regrettable” that Trump directed Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear before lawmakers. The president surprised senators when he called off the hearing in the middle of the night, demanding in a Truth Social post that the chamber approve a replacement for Clayton first.

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