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Jay Clayton

Walter J. "Jay" Clayton III (born July 11, 1966) is an American attorney and politician who has been the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York since 2025. He was the 32nd Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from May 4, 2017 until December 23, 2020 during the first presidency of Donald Trump.

Jay Clayton
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Walter Joseph "Jay" Clayton III (cropped).png
Official portrait, 2025
Director of National Intelligence
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentDonald Trump
SucceedingTulsi Gabbard.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Assumed office
April 22, 2025
Acting: April 22, 2025 – August 19, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byMatthew Podolsky (acting)
Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
In office
May 4, 2017 – December 23, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byMichael Piwowar (acting)
Succeeded byElad L. Roisman (acting)
Personal details
Born
Walter Joseph Clayton III

11 July 1966 (aged 60)
Newport News, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyIndependent
Spouse(s)Gretchen Butler
Education

In June 2026, President Trump nominated Clayton to be the next Director of National Intelligence.

Early life

Walter Joseph Clayton III was born on July 11, 1966, at the McDonald Army Health Center at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia.[1] He was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and near Hershey, Pennsylvania.[2]

Clayton went to Lafayette College for a short time, before going to the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in engineering[3] in 1988.[4] Clayton graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in economics and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1993.[3]

Legal career

From 1993 to 1995, Clayton clerked for Marvin Katz, judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.[5]

At Sullivan & Cromwell, Clayton was co-managing partner of the firm's General Practice Group.[6]

Clayton is an independent.[7] He donated to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns. In 2015, Clayton donated to Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign.[8]

First Trump administration

On January 4, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Clayton to be SEC Chairman.[9] They had met a month earlier to talk about regulation.[8] On May 2, 2017, the U.S. Senate voted 61-37 to confirm Clayton as Chairman of the SEC. Votes cast in favor of Clayton's confirmation included nine Democrats and one Independent alongside 51 Republican votes.[10] On May 4, 2017, Clayton was sworn in, marking the official beginning of his role as Chairman.[11][7]

On June 19, 2020, United States Attorney General Bill Barr announced that President Trump would nominate Clayton to replace Geoffrey Berman as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.[12] However, Clayton was not selected, and instead Audrey Strauss was picked as acting US attorney for Southern District of New York.[13]

Second Trump administration

In April 2025, Clayton was nominated by President Trump to become the interim U.S. Attorney for Manhattan.[14] His nomination was approved in August 2025.[15] In November 2025, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to investigate Democrats who were associates of Jeffrey Epstein. Attorney General Pam Bondi assigned Clayton to lead the investigation.[16]

In February 2026, Clayton created a program to allow companies to avoid criminal charges for financial misconduct, including fraud, by self-reporting to his office.[17]

Director of National Intelligence

On June 11, 2026, President Donald Trump nominated Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence.[18] He will appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on June 17.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Local Briefs". The Lykens Register. August 4, 1966. https://www.newspapers.com/article/lykens-register-local-briefs/199393947/. Retrieved June 11, 2026. 
  2. ↑ Scannell, Kara. Wall St lawyer with skills honed by financial crisis heads to SEC. Financial Times (February 6, 2017). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rodriguez, Lissette. Everything You Need to Know About Donald Trump's SEC Chair Pick, Jay Clayton (January 4, 2017)ABC News. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  4. ↑ Wan, James. Trump taps Penn professor Jay Clayton as next director of national intelligence. The Daily Pennsylvanian (June 11, 2026). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  5. ↑ Jay Clayton. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "We Don't Need a Crisis to Act Unitedly Against Cyber Threats" (in en-US). Knowledge@Wharton. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/we-dont-need-a-crisis-to-act-unitedly-against-cyber-threats/. Retrieved 2017-05-08. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Protess, Ben. Trump Administration Spares Corporate Wrongdoers Billions in Penalties. The New York Times (November 3, 2018). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Picker, Leslie. Donald Trump Nominates Wall Street Lawyer to Head S.E.C.. The New York Times (January 4, 2017). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  9. ↑ Lovelace Jr., Berkeley (4 January 2017). "SECChairNom". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/president-elect-donald-trump-to-pick-jay-clayton-to-be-sec-chair.html. Retrieved 4 January 2017. 
  10. ↑ "Senate Confirms Wall St Attorney Jay Clayton to Head SEC". The New York Times. 2017-05-02. ISSN 0362-4331 . https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/05/02/us/politics/ap-us-sec-nominee-senate.html. Retrieved 2017-05-08. [dead link]
  11. ↑ Clayton Sworn In As SEC Chairman. www.mondaq.com. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  12. ↑ Press, The Associated (2020-06-19). "US Attorney Who Oversaw Cases of Trump Allies Steps Down" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/06/19/us/politics/ap-us-manhattan-federal-prosecutor.html. Retrieved 2020-06-20. 
  13. ↑ Tabuchi, Hiroko (January 14, 2021). "Toyota to Pay a Record Fine for a Decade of Clean Air Act Violations". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/climate/toyota-emissions-fine.html. Retrieved February 11, 2021. 
  14. ↑ "Jay Clayton to be interim US attorney for Southern District of New York, Trumps says" (in en). Reuters. 2025-04-16. https://www.reuters.com/legal/jay-clayton-be-interim-us-attorney-southern-district-new-york-trumps-says-2025-04-16/. Retrieved 2025-06-03. 
  15. ↑ Weiser, Benjamin. Manhattan Judges Approve Trump's Choice for U.S. Attorney. The New York Times (August 18, 2025). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  16. ↑ Green, Erica. Justice Department to Investigate Epstein Ties, but Not to Trump. The New York Times (November 14, 2025). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  17. ↑ Dolmetsch, Chris. Wall Street Cop Says Self-Reporters Can Avoid Prosecution (February 24, 2026)Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  18. ↑ Barnes, Julian. Trump Picks New Intelligence Chief After Revolt Over Pulte. The New York Times (June 11, 2026). Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  19. ↑ Vazquez, Maegan. Trump nominates U.S. attorney Jay Clayton as DNI after pushback over Bill Pulte. The Washington Post (June 11, 2026). Retrieved June 11, 2026.

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