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Senate Dems Threaten To Punt FISA Over Pulte
President Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence is roiling an emerging bipartisan extension of warrantless spying.
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NewsNation
Senate advances controversial $72B spending bill funding ICE
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The U.S. spends more money on ICE than Israel, France and Japan spend on their defense programs.
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Raw Story
Senate GOP faces grueling 'marathon' as they fight off 'heartburn' from Trump
Senate Republicans are bracing for an end-of-week slog of votes as tension continues to build with the Trump White House, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday morning.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) face "a marathon of twisting arms and whipping votes on two pieces of legislation that have little in common" other than the fact that "Trump has made passing them much harder than it needed to be," said the report — namely, the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorization, and the Homeland Security reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement.The "heartburn" Republicans face, per the report, is that Trump has complicated all of this by demanding $1 billion for "security" for his White House ballroom project, something the GOP has finally rejected outright; introduced and backed off the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" which has forced Senate Republicans to consider banning it directly in their legislation; and nominating his unqualified and highly partisan housing finance chief Bill Pulte to serve as Director of National Intelligence, which has caused Democrats to threaten a boycott of FISA.The weaponization fund alone has created additional pain points by causing some Republicans to demand a formal ban on the fund in the reconciliation as a condition for their vote, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) saying, “We need to take action here. It’s creating headwinds that we don’t need. If we’ve got the acting AG saying it’s done, then let’s just stick a fork in it.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), meanwhile, plans to introduce an amendment requiring a rewrite of the bill to include this language. Only four Republican votes would be needed to pass it.The upshot, per other reports, is that Republicans on Capitol Hill are privately enraged at Trump for constantly tripping up not only their priorities, but his own.
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Latest Political News on Fox News
The growing list of controversies threatening Democrat Graham Platner's Maine Senate bid
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner draws national attention but faces mounting controversies over his personal conduct and social media posts.
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Washington Examiner
Warning for Senate Republicans: MAHA voters oppose Save Our Bacon Act
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) generated significant media attention with her successful MAHA-backed work to remove pro-pesticide policies from the House version of the Farm Bill. But despite attracting less attention, her rejected amendment to remove the so-called Save Our Bacon Act may prove to be even more consequential for congressional Republicans. The SOB Act […]
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Axios
Pulte pick sparks a Senate GOP rebellion
Just when President Trump removed one thumb from the eye of Senate Republicans — scrapping his $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" — he put another right back in with his choice of Bill Pulte as director of national intelligence.Why it matters: This time, the stakes are even higher: Democrats are threatening to let the government's spy powers lapse next week unless Trump yanks the appointment.State of play: Democratic outrage over Trump's latest moves usually doesn't amount to much. But Republicans need at least eight Democratic votes in the Senate to prevent the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 from lapsing on June 12, potentially forcing Trump to choose between sticking with Pulte or keeping Section 702 alive.The warning lights started flashing on Monday when Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) teed off on the appointment. "I thought I had gotten to the stage where I could no longer be shocked by Donald Trump's choices," he told MS NOW, "but this may be the most outrageous of all."As vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Warner is a key player in the Section 702 renewal debate.Now Warner is pressing Senate Majority Leader John Thune to urge the White House to drop Pulte, per Punchbowl. As DNI, he would play a key role overseeing the Section 702 program.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that renewal of surveillance powers, which has already been delayed for months, is in further jeopardy. "The timing of this announcement could not be worse," he said. "With just over a week until FISA Section 702's authorities expire, this announcement and its timing clearly make passing an extension of FISA much harder."The big picture: The backlash isn't just coming from Democrats. Some of the sharpest criticism has come from Trump's own party.Thune himself did not mince words about Pulte, who used his perch as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to target Trump's adversaries. "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there," he said.Thune's predecessor as Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, also came out against Pulte. "Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote," he said.At a Tuesday hearing, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent whether he actually threatened to punch Pulte in the face, as journalist Rachael Bade reported last year. "No sir, I actually said I was going to kick his ass," Bessent replied. To which Tillis said, "Good … I share the emotion."Tillis also said Pulte is "not fit" to be DNI and that "the timing of this nomination couldn't have been worse."Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said of Pulte, "I don't see any evidence of qualifications for that job, but I'm willing to listen."Yes, but: Hitching Pulte to the FISA extension "is a really risky strategy," Thune told reporters Tuesday, per Axios' Hans Nichols and Kate Santaliz. Tillis and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also indicated they oppose linking the two.For the record: "Bill Pulte is a great selection and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people," White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement. "Holding FISA hostage puts America's national security at risk and it is shameful that some Democrats are threatening to put partisan politics ahead of the safety of the American people." The bottom line: The administration abandoned the anti-weaponization fund. Now it has to decide whether to do the same with Pulte.
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NBC News Politics
Trump adds uncertainty to the status of $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund
When asked by a reporter, President Trump did not clarify the future of the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, saying he would “have to ask the lawyers. I don’t know.” Trump’s comments follow acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statement that the Justice Department is “not moving forward” with the fund.
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Washington Examiner
White House urged to engage as Bill Pulte pick threatens to derail spy powers renewal
The White House is being implored to step in and help Congress extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after negotiations have been upended by President Donald Trump’s appointment of housing finance guru Bill Pulte as the nation’s spy chief. Fresh from Republican blowback over the White House’s proposed $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, […]
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TIME
Trump Admin Scraps $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ After Backlash
The DOJ said it was abandoning plans for the fund, which critics feared would be used to give taxpayer money to Jan. 6 rioters, but plans to bar the I.R.S. from auditing Trump’s past tax returns remain.
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