President Donald Trump on Wednesday scuttled a planned Senate confirmation hearing for his intelligence chief nominee, Jay Clayton, in a last-minute move that left even Republican leaders flat-footed and ensured that a housing official with no national security experience will temporarily lead the nation’s intelligence agencies.
That was not enough to distract officials from Trump’s surrender to Iran, with its $300 billion payoff to the Islamic Republic to end a war the president started.
The hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee was set for Wednesday afternoon. But early that morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that it was canceled. He said it would not proceed until the Senate confirms Jamie McDonald, Trump’s pick to replace Clayton as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) initially said the panel would proceed unless Trump intervened. Hours later, Cotton relented.
“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” Cotton said in a statement.
Trump’s demand threw the confirmation process into disarray. It also left Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director and a Trump loyalist, in place as acting director of national intelligence. Pulte is expected to take over for outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who is stepping down later this month to care for her husband, who has been diagnosed with a rare bone cancer.
Pulte has no national security experience, and his appointment has drawn opposition from both parties.
Trump linked the confirmation delay to a broader legislative fight, saying he would not support reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a key spy tool that expired last week — unless Congress also passes the Save America Act, a voting restrictions bill that Democrats oppose and that cannot clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster.
“The Republicans fell into a trap,” Trump wrote, but it is very clear that the trap was sprung when the Celebrity Apprentice President tore up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), widely known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, which was a 2015 multilateral agreement that required Iran to significantly limit its nuclear program and accept international inspections in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The JCPOA came about after U.S. President Barack Obama revealed the existence of an underground enrichment facility in Fordow in September 2009, and resolved to pursue a peaceful limit on Iran’s uranium enrichment and stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The agreement was finalized in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, the U.K., U.S.—plus Germany, together with the European Union.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Iran’s adherence to the interim agreement, including stopping enrichment of uranium to 20%, beginning to dilute half of the stockpile of 20% enriched uranium to 3.5%, and halting work on the Arak heavy-water reactor.
Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from that agreement in 2018 and reimposed heavy economic sanctions, ordered the assassination of a top Iranian general, and continued instigating until last year, when the United States bombed three of Iran’s nuclear research facilities on June 22, 2025, joining a series of Israeli attacks that began on June 12.
Trump insisted that after the attacks on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, Iran “must now make peace.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed, “The United States does not seek war.”
The United States once again became embroiled in a costly Middle East conflict that damaged its credibility with partners, weakened deterrence with adversaries, and reduced readiness in the Indo-Pacific on February 28, 2026, when it and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran.
The deal ending the unprovoked conflict is essentially a surrender. With the announcement of a framework deal to end the war in Iran, the conventional wisdom taking hold is that the United States and Israel lost.
The president’s move came as he faced a widening Republican revolt over his preliminary agreement with Iran, a deal that even some of his closest allies have described as a surrender.
The GOP’s position on Iran has long disfavored dealmaking, with most Republican lawmakers railing against then-President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear pact with Tehran. Many of those same Republicans said it was too early to comment on the memorandum that Trump signed on Sunday. That stance soured as details became known.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called it “a colossal mistake.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned that FISA’s lapse has “basically blinded our intelligence community” at a moment when 60% of the president’s daily intelligence briefing depends on the authority.
The memorandum of understanding, a 14-point document reached through Pakistani mediation, extends a ceasefire for 60 days and reopens the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil shipments. The agreement, electronically signed by Trump and Vice President JD Vance, calls for the U.S. to begin lifting its naval blockade and issue waivers allowing Iran to export oil freely.
It also commits the U.S. to work toward ending all sanctions on Iran — primary and secondary — and to help secure at least $300 billion in reconstruction financing, though the details are left for future negotiations.
Iran, in turn, reaffirms that it will not develop nuclear weapons and agrees to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium under IAEA supervision. But the text does not require Iran to dismantle its nuclear program.
The deal falls short of Trump’s earlier war aims — including regime change, the destruction of Iran’s ballistic missile program, and the elimination of its nuclear infrastructure.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime hawk, said the memorandum being described by Iran “sounds awful.” He wrote on social media that he looks “forward to reviewing the actual document rather than relying on Iranian propaganda reports.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) strongly opposes the Trump administration’s emerging peace agreement with Iran, warning that any diplomatic deal would be “ill-advised” and a “disaster”.
Critics on the left and right alike are asking why the war was fought in the first place, if this is to be the shape of its resolution.
Conservative hawks are feeling particularly uneasy. Pro-Israel commentator Ben Shapiro described the deal as a “disaster,” while another well-known conservative voice, Erick Erickson, labeled the accord “an American surrender” and added: “Trump has surrendered to Iran.” Critics, including former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, argued the agreement strips the U.S. of vital leverage on day one.
Even some Republicans who voiced cautious optimism acknowledged they had not seen the deal’s text. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he had not received a copy.
“We do not have an agreement just yet,” Thune told reporters. “I’m guessing there will be a high level of interest among our members.”
Israeli officials, meanwhile, denounced the agreement. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called it “bad for Israel and the entire free world.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has clashed with Trump over Israel’s ongoing strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, said Israel would not withdraw from security zones in Lebanon, Syria or Gaza.
“We have our interests — I am committed to ensuring there is no nuclear threat,” Netanyahu told reporters.
Trump, at the Group of Seven summit in France, defended the deal and criticized Israel’s military tactics.
“I think they could do better with respect to Hezbollah,” Trump said. “When two drones are shot into the desert and drop harmlessly, you don’t have to knock down buildings in Beirut.”
He also acknowledged that the agreement lacks enforcement mechanisms. Asked what would happen if Iran violated the terms, Trump said: “We’re going to bomb the hell out of you.”
Back in Washington, Democratic leaders demanded that Secretary of State Marco Rubio brief Congress on the deal’s terms.
“It’s been nearly 24 hours since Trump announced there was a potential deal with Iran, and we still don’t know the details,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said from the floor. “Trump must brief Congress and the public immediately.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) described the agreement as “essentially a surrender to Iran on Iran’s terms” but said he would support it because “this crowd of incompetent national security leaders is making the situation worse every day.”
“It’s a disaster,” Murphy said, “but it’s probably a necessary disaster.”
The administration has said the full text of the memorandum will be released after a formal signing ceremony scheduled for Friday in Geneva. But with Republican hawks in open revolt, a surveillance program in limbo, and an intelligence community about to be led by a housing regulator, the president’s week in Europe has done little to settle the turbulence at home.
Trump is facing a steep uphill battle selling the U.S.-Iran peace framework due to immediate sanctions waivers, significant oil concessions, and opposition from both Republican hardliners and Democrats who fear the pact provides massive financial relief to Tehran with minimal security guarantees.
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