Jay Clayton, former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the nation's intelligence apparatus as Director of National Intelligence.
The nomination comes after a gap in leadership at the agency, with lawmakers pushing back against acting director Bill Pulte. Clayton was confirmed for his previous role at the SEC with a bipartisan 61-37 Senate vote in 2017 and held it until December 2020.
During his tenure at the SEC, Clayton oversaw an aggressive enforcement posture toward digital assets, including a $1.3 billion case against Ripple Labs over its sales of XRP.
After leaving the SEC, Clayton joined One River Asset Management's Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council in March 2021 to focus on crypto regulation and stablecoin strategy.