Trump’s DNI fight turns into Senate cliffhanger

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said that Wednesday's scheduled confirmation for President Trump's director of national intelligence nominee, Jay Clayton, is still on for now — hours after the president claimed it was canceled.The big picture: Clayton's nomination, which the Senate was aiming to fast-track, has been widely regarded as a way to ease tension between the White House and the upper chamber's Republicans after Trump nominated Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief. Driving the news: "We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination," Cotton, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's Republican chair, said in a Wednesday X post.The hearing for Clayton, who is currently the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, remains scheduled on the committee's website for Wednesday afternoon.Catch up quick: But early Wednesday morning, Trump posted that Clayton's hearing was canceled and would not be moving forward until his new pick for U.S. attorney, James McDonald, was approved.He said that in the meantime, Pulte, who emerged as a key ally for the president atop the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would serve as acting director.The White House referred Axios to Trump's Truth Social post about the hearing when asked for comment. Go deeper: Trump ties FISA renewal to his stalled voting bill