Republican senators warn surveillance program may lapse after Trump intel pick backlash
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are warning the White House critical oversight authority It’s likely to end this week due to bipartisan backlash over President Donald Trump’s decision choose to lead the country’s intelligence community.
Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sounded the alarm over the weekend after a failed procedural vote to extend the program.
In a letter, senators urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to be prepared for “a potentially significant gap in foreign intelligence collection” if his powers expire. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires June 12, allows agencies including the CIA, National Security Agency and FBI to collect communications from foreign targets abroad without a warrant.
Efforts to secure a long-term extension of the program I’ve already encountered obstacles due to bipartisan concerns that the program might incidentally collect Americans’ communications. Privacy advocates and some lawmakers are pushing for a new warrant requirement to search these communications.
Senate leaders from both parties appear to be nearing agreement on a long-term extension. But those efforts failed after Trump chose federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week”: “I know how important this tool is. I don’t know why the president threw in this live grenade belonging to Bill Pulte 10 days before it expired.”
Pulte’s election breaks bipartisan agreement
Early Friday morning, seven Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in blocking a long-term extension of surveillance authority after senators spent the night debating separate immigration bills.
Democrats and many Republicans voiced opposition to Trump’s pick of Pulte, arguing that the federal housing finance regulator lacks the necessary experience to oversee the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies.
“While Pulte’s appointment to this position is arguably not the best timing, I don’t think it should derail something this important,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.
Thune expressed concerns about Pulte’s selection, saying the nation’s top intelligence agency should not be “weaponized” and that the position should be filled by “professionals.” Cotton, who has rarely backed out of supporting Trump and a leading proponent of surveillance authority, declined to support Pulte, saying only that he had “no observations on the matter.”
“He’s not qualified for the long-term position,” Republican Sen. James Lankford, another member of the Intelligence Committee, told “Fox News Sunday.” “That’s obvious. He has no national security background.
Republican and Democratic senators who were skeptical of Pulte pointed to his record with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In that role, he was associated with criminal referrals over allegations of mortgage fraud by public officials whom Trump wanted to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia James (a Democrat); Senator Adam Schiff, California; and Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook.
Republicans will need to muster some Democratic support to expand oversight authority in the Senate. However, it seems difficult to make a breakthrough as long as Pulte remains in this position, which Trump said last week would be temporary.
“I don’t see a way to convince enough Democrats,” Warner said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked if renewal was possible with Pulte in office.
An essential surveillance tool
The current reauthorization debate is not the first time lawmakers have grappled with the fate of the surveillance program, especially after a series of revelations. government abuse from the vast trove of intelligence he has collected.
In recent years, the issue has stirred up predictable partisan alliances; Democrats who are critical of the Trump administration have joined those on the right who are skeptical of government power in voicing concerns about the Section 702 renewal.
For example, in 2024, these divisions almost led to the termination of the program. The Senate barely missed the midnight deadline that year before approving legislation by the 60-34 margin to reauthorize Section 702, which was later signed by President Joe Biden.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Monday about the national security concerns that would arise if the program were to end. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence referred investigations to the White House, but the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“America faces real threats from foreign adversaries, terrorists, cyber actors and enemy intelligence services,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement on social media Sunday. “Section 702 remains one of our nation’s most effective tools to detect and eliminate these threats before they reach our shores.”
Cotton and Grassley said they believed Democratic leaders would not support another short-term extension of surveillance authority and called on Rubio to prepare contingency plans. They said Trump should issue an executive order to prevent a disruption in intelligence gathering.
Cotton and Warner have said they are close to a bipartisan agreement on a long-term extension and could move quickly if there is a change before Friday. Still, the bill will likely need to pass Parliament, and the two chambers have so far failed to agree on a separate issue related to a central banking digital currency.
“If we go dark next week, right before the FIFA World Cup games and the 250th anniversary, that would be the most irresponsible act I’ve ever seen Congress do in my 22 years in office,” Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul said on ABC’s “This Week.”
