Senate Confirms New Spymaster After Mortgage Boss Bill Pulte Fired 30% of Staff in the Role

Congress has confirmed a new permanent director of national intelligence, marking the end of top mortgage regulator Bill Pulte's tenure as acting replacement for former director Tulsi Gabbard.The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton to role by a vote of 51-47 Tuesday night. The director of national intelligence, or DNI for short, coordinates the nation's intelligence agencies, including the CIA, to detect and deter threats such as terrorism, cyberattacks, and international espionage.Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has overseen numerous high-profile international cases with a nexus to national security matters. That includes the indictment of Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. extracted him from that country earlier this year, as well as Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, accused of executing terrorist attacks in the U.S. on behalf of Iranian terrorist groups.The Trump administration's top housing czar had been splitting time as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and acting DNI since Trump appointed him to the intelligence job last month. But his appointment to the role was immediately controversial for Democrats and Republicans alike."C...