Bill Pulte, the housing regulator serving as acting director of national intelligence, will officially hand over the role to Jay Clayton on Monday, according to a social media post by Pulte.
Pulte announced on Saturday that he had spoken with President Donald Trump and Clayton, who was confirmed by the Senate this week, about the transition.
Trump appointed Pulte to the interim position following the resignation of former director Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte's appointment drew criticism from some Republican lawmakers who questioned his national security credentials, given his role at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Clayton, previously the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was confirmed by the Senate along party lines on Tuesday. The Senate confirmation process had been delayed, with initial hopes for a June confirmation deferred by the president. During Pulte's tenure, Trump made public statements reiterating unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election and released classified documents he claimed supported his arguments.
Clayton has highlighted his government and national security experience in an effort to gain bipartisan support. However, his nomination faced challenges, including a contentious hearing where he declined to state unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Prior to the Senate vote on Clayton's nomination, Pulte disclosed intelligence community documents from 2020. These documents reportedly detailed China's capabilities to interfere in U.S. elections and identified vulnerabilities within the election system. The disclosed material largely contained information that was already publicly known but was presented as part of an effort by the Trump administration to raise concerns about election integrity.