Sen. Tom Cotton said Tuesday the Senate Intelligence Committee's confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton will go ahead unless President Trump personally orders him to cancel it — a direct challenge to White House attempts to pull the session.
Cotton, an Arkansas Republican and committee chair, told reporters the hearing is on and he expects it to proceed as scheduled. He set one condition for standing it down: a direct instruction from Trump himself.
The White House had sought to postpone the hearing for Clayton, Trump's nominee to serve as Director of National Intelligence, without providing a public explanation for the cancellation request.
Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chair under Trump's first term, was tapped earlier this year for the intelligence post. His hearing had been a flashpoint over questions of executive deference and Senate independence.
The public break between Cotton and the White House is rare for a sitting Republican chair under a Republican president. Cotton gave no indication he intended to back down without direct presidential contact.
The hearing's fate is expected to become clearer later this week as Senate leaders and the White House negotiate next steps.