Trump asks – President Donald Trump urged Congress on Wednesday to temporarily extend a key portion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, arguing he needs time to replace Bill Pulte as acting head of national intelligence. The move comes after Senate Republicans an
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pushed a hand into the machinery of Congress this week, asking senators not to cut off the government’s warrantless spy authorities even for a moment.
In a post on his website on Wednesday. Trump asked Congress to send a short-term extension of part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act set to expire this week. The request was framed as a timing problem: he said he needed time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent head to lead America’s intelligence agencies. after choosing Bill Pulte for the acting role of director of national intelligence.
“I am asking Congress to send me a short-term extension of FISA to provide time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent Head of the Agency,” Trump wrote.
The urgency is not only about the calendar. It’s about the person Trump has put in charge—and the way Congress has already reacted.
The Senate rejected a three-year FISA extension last week. after Trump first announced Pulte would serve as acting director of national intelligence. That rejection was the second time in weeks Trump had stalled his own agenda on Capitol Hill. Republicans last month balked at an immigration enforcement bill after Trump created an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” intended to send cash payments to his political allies. Once the administration said the fund wouldn’t move forward, Republicans moved the immigration bill.
For Democrats who opposed Trump’s approach from the start, the pattern is starting to look less like negotiation and more like disruption.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers would be able to extend the spy law if Trump had not thrown what he called a “live hand grenade” into negotiations by announcing he would put Pulte in charge.
Warner also pointed to the political limits of asking for another round of short-term fixes. Lawmakers might be unable to pass another short-term extension after having already done so twice this year.
“I’m not sure there are votes there,” Warner told reporters Wednesday.
In the background of the fight is the legal mechanism the extension would keep alive. Section 702 of the spy law allows the government to spy on foreigners using American telecommunications infrastructure. Americans’ emails and phone records are incidentally captured. and domestic law enforcement agencies can then look at them through a process civil liberties advocates say functions as an end run around Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable government searches.
Pulte’s role adds fuel to an already combustible debate about oversight and surveillance. In his current position at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Pulte has combed through mortgage records to accuse various Democrats of mortgage fraud and refer them for criminal prosecution. So far, the criminal investigations have fizzled.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). the Senate’s leading proponent of spy reforms—particularly a push for a requirement that law enforcement agencies obtain judicial warrants before making “U.S. person queries” of FISA data—did not commit either way on Wednesday about blocking the short-term extension Trump requested.
But Wyden’s position on the underlying fight was direct.
“Firing Pulte is not going to fix the problem,” Wyden told HuffPost.
Other Democrats argued the opposite: that removing Pulte could help open space for a deal.
“FISA is not doomed as long as the president is willing to change his mind about nominating someone who is wildly unqualified to hold this position,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told HuffPost.
For lawmakers weighing whether to grant Trump what he’s asking for, the question is no longer only whether the surveillance power should live another week. It is also whether Congress can—or will—absorb another round of political leverage while the clock keeps ticking toward a deadline this week.
Trump Congress FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Bill Pulte Office of the Director of National Intelligence Section 702 Mark Warner Ron Wyden Chris Coons surveillance law U.S. intelligence Fourth Amendment
FISA again 🙄 can’t they just stop messing with surveillance laws for one week?
So he wants a short extension because he needs time to pick the next intelligence guy… but isn’t that what they already do? Sounds like Congress is always the backup plan for Trump.
Bill Pulte? Wait like the guy’s name isn’t actually Pulte from something else? I get that it’s acting, but I feel like they’re trying to keep spy stuff running until “their” person is in. Democrats rejected it but then why are we still talking about it?
This is just politics. They rejected a 3-year extension and now he begs for a brief one like that’s totally normal. Also the article mentions some “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and I swear every time there’s a different excuse why the bills don’t pass. Like maybe they don’t even want to replace the director, they just want the authority to spy longer, right? Not saying that’s what’s happening but… that’s the vibe.