President Donald Trump's rash decision-making caused a key bill to implode this week, and according to an ex-NSA official who spoke with The Hill, it has left the U.S. in a "pretty dangerous place" at a terrible time.With Trump's urging, Congress has been working for months on a long-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which would renew the federal government's authority to conduct surveillance on foreign individuals without first obtaining a warrant. While a deal to renew these FISA powers was reportedly close to the finish in recent weeks, it blew up in the eleventh hour when Trump announced his nomination of Bill Pulte — a thoroughly unqualified loyalist — as the new acting director of national intelligence. This prompted Democrats across the board to boycott the FISA bill, dooming its chances of passing for the time being.In a Friday morning report, The Hill noted that this FISA breakdown comes "just as the World Cup and America 250 celebrations get underway, raising security concerns that experts say will only get more severe as the fight in Congress drags on." Glenn Gerstell, a former general counsel for the National Security Agency, spoke with the outlet about his concerns with the situations, saying that the timing — with the World Cup and the war in Iran ongoing — "could not be worse."“You look out at the world picture and it’s a pretty dangerous place, and add to that heightened concerns over World Cup, other celebrations, etc.,” he explained. “It’s not that those two alone are so significant, but I just say the whole picture generally looks fairly dangerous, and it’s exactly when we want to have 702 in place.”Jamil N. Jaffer, the founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University, also spoke with The Hill about the abysmal timing of the FISA expiration.“Of course terrorists and other threat actors are going to be focused on targeting America at a time when we’re hosting one of the world’s largest, most watched sporting events ever," Jaffer said. Sophie McDowall, a research associate at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, explained that any directives, including those likely put in place for the World Cup, can continue despite FISA's expiration, but warned that any new threats that arise while a renewal is worked out could present major problems.“They’re not going to be left with nothing… but it would definitely be better to have it [authorized] sooner rather than later,” McDowall said.
