Jay Clayton’s nomination to be director of national intelligence advanced through the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday.

The committee voted 9-8 along party lines to advance Clayton’s nomination. Democrats uniformly opposed Clayton following a contentious confirmation hearing.

At the hearing, Democrats asked Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chair, repeatedly whether former President Joe Biden won the election and defeated Trump.

Echoing many of Trump's nominees, Clayton said many times that the election was "certified" for Biden, declining to say outright that the Democrat won.

Clayton is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate, though a date for his vote has not been set. Clayton is replacing former Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned to care for her ailing husband.

Bill Pulte had been serving in an acting capacity.

Clayton's confirmation could potentially clear the way for bipartisan legislation to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which stalled last month when Democrats had said they would not provide the necessary votes to pass the bill unless Pulte's temporary appointment was withdrawn.

The law, which aims to prevent terrorist attacks by monitoring the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States, expired in June.

Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most prestigious of the Justice Department's prosecution offices. His cases have ranged from terrorism and espionage cases to securities fraud and public corruption.

Information from Associated Press contributed to this report.