Congress Fails to Act as Fisa Spy Powers Set to Expire
A critical provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) is set to expire on Friday night following a congressional deadlock, triggered by controversy over President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a prominent Republican donor, as acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Despite Trump’s efforts to quell the backlash by nominating Jay Carney, another senior official, as a permanent DNI, Congress has not extended section 702 of Fisa ahead of the looming deadline.
While the controversy surrounding Pulte brought renewed attention to Fisa, debates over the program’s balance between civil liberties and national security have been ongoing for several years.
“If Bill Pulte had never become part of the conversation, many of the underlying concerns about section 702 – if not all of them – would still exist,” said Jason Pye, vice-president of the Due Process Institute, a bipartisan nonprofit focused largely on criminal justice. “These debates didn’t start in this Congress, and they didn’t start with this administration.”
Below is an explanation of the current situation and what may follow.
Congress Fails to Act as Fisa Spy Powers Set to Expire
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A vital surveillance authority enabling the US to gather intelligence abroad appears poised to expire after Congress did not approve a temporary extension.
The impasse is a form of protest against President Trump’s interim appointment of Bill Pulte to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies, according to the Associated Press.
Trump has maintained his support for Pulte despite the latter’s limited experience in intelligence matters.
In response, Democratic lawmakers declared they would withhold support for renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless Trump withdrew Pulte’s nomination and proposed a permanent replacement.
The House vote on a temporary extension failed, with 19 Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in opposition, resulting in a 198-218 vote against the measure.
The Senate also attempted to pass its own versions but was unsuccessful, leaving the law set to expire at midnight.
Following the votes, Trump announced Jay Clayton, a former US attorney and ex-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as his permanent nominee for intelligence director. However, this move did not appear to resolve the deadlock over Pulte before the deadline.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said:
“Pulte has to go. He cannot be in the DNI role. It’s too important.”
In other news, President Trump declared a “great settlement” with Iran, which could be signed soon, possibly in Europe over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Trump’s appointed board at the Kennedy Center is making a last-minute effort to retain his name on the performing arts center’s facade before a court-ordered deadline to remove it by Friday.
The board voted on Thursday to seek a stay of US District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 ruling, which found that Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center, according to a source familiar with the private meeting who requested anonymity.
Additionally, Congressman Robert Garcia, who is expected to chair the House oversight committee next year if Democrats regain the majority in November, has called for testimony from Vice President JD Vance and other senior officials regarding what he described as “the White House cover-up” of the Epstein files revealed by the New York Times.
Federal authorities are also investigating a large etching of the number “8647” carved into the grass of the National Mall. Aerial views from the Washington Monument as of Thursday afternoon show the markings clearly, with a prominent “8” and less visible “6,” “4,” and “7.”
