Trump derailed confirmation of his nominee to head US intel agencies

US President Donald Trump derailed the confirmation process of his own nominee to head his nation's intelligence agencies.

This, in an extraordinary move that upended Senate efforts to renew a crucial surveillance program and fueled fresh tensions with fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill.

US President Donald Trump declared he was delaying the nomination of federal prosecutor Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence.

This, just hours ahead of his scheduled hearing, despite bipartisan praise for the nominee and Republican efforts to speed him through the confirmation process.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, said Republicans would go ahead with the Clayton hearing anyway, "unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination."

But he eventually postponed the hearing, saying it was "regrettable" Trump had directed Clayton not to appear.

Trump's attempt to delay Clayton makes it more likely that his temporary pick for the intelligence job, top housing official Bill Pulte, will take over when outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard leaves office on Friday.

Trump called the speedy process to get Clayton formally installed a "rush act by the Democrats."

Trump sang Pulte's praises and said he will be in charge until someone else gets approved.

DONALD TRUMP: "Well, as long as it takes to get everybody else approved. I mean, they were doing a rush act, and we didn't get anything for it. Look, he's a very legitimate guy. He's very smart. He's a brilliant guy."

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized Pulte, a Trump loyalist who has no known national security experience and has used his current administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the president.

Caught in the middle is the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, bipartisan legislation that aims to prevent terrorist attacks by monitoring the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States.

Democrats had said they would not provide the necessary votes to pass the bill unless Pulte's temporary appointment was withdrawn.

The current surveillance authority expired last week.

Further complicating matters, Trump said in his social media post that he would not sign the FISA renewal without his legislation to require proof of citizenship for all voters which does not have enough votes to pass the Senate.