Trump seeks to slow confirming his pick for spy chief and delay hearing

Trump seeks to slow confirming his pick for spy chief and delay hearing47 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleGetty ImagesJay Clayton is due to attend the nomination hearing on WednesdayUS President Donald Trump is seeking to delay a hearing to confirm his pick for the nation's top spy chief, citing frustration with surveillance legislation stalled in Congress.Jay Clayton is scheduled to appear before the Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday - his first step toward taking over as director of national intelligence (DNI).On Truth Social, Trump said he would delay the hearing over frustration that lawmakers had allowed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to lapse. A showdown between the president and Republican-led committee has started, with Chair Tom Cotton saying the hearing will proceed unless Trump directs Clayton not to appear or withdraws his nomination.Meanwhile, the Democrat vice-chair of the committee, Mark Warner, said in a statement that: "National security cannot be governed by social media post". "What we're witnessing is an extraordinary display of dysfunction from a president who seems determined to turn America's national security into a political bargaining chip," he said.The Clayton hearing is scheduled for 14:00 EDT (18:00 GMT).In his early morning social media post, Trump said that he would not "approve" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) unless the SAVE America Act is included. The SAVE act would require people to provide ID and proof of citizenship to vote. Democrats have widely condemned it, arguing that if it becomes law it will restrict the rights of voters. The current iteration of FISA, which governs how intelligence agencies can gather information from US telecoms companies, lacks sufficient support to pass. Adding the SAVE Act could make passage more difficult.He then tied his proposed combined legislation to his recent nomination of Clayton, currently the US...