Fisa spy powers almost certain to expire after Congress fails to act – US politics live
TL;DR
The key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) is set to expire after Congress failed to act by the deadline. This comes amid controversy surrounding Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting DNI.
Key points
- Key provision of Fisa set to expire
- Congress failed to extend section 702
- Controversy over Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte
- Debate on civil liberties vs. national security
- Concerns about the implications of Fisa's expiration
Mentioned in this story
A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) is due to expire on Friday night amid a backlash to Trump’s announcement that Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a major Republican donor, would be acting DNI.
While Trump has moved to contain the furor – announcing his nomination of another top official, Jay Carney, to take the role on a permanent basis – US Congress has so far failed to extend section 702 of Fisa in time for Friday’s deadline.
While the Pulte row brought Fisa back in the spotlight, the program’s balance of civil liberties and national security has been the subject of fraught debate in recent months, and 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.”
Here is our explainer on what happens next…
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A key surveillance tool that allows the US to collect intelligence abroad appears certain to expire after Congress failed to temporarily extend the program.
The impasse is a protest against president Donald Trump’s temporary pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies, AP reported.
Trump doubled down on his choice of Bill Pulte for acting director of national intelligence, despite the federal housing finance regulator having little experience.
In response, Democratic politicians said they would not support the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as Fisa, unless Trump withdraws Pulte’s appointment and nominates a permanent replacement.
The House vote collapsed, with 19 Republicans and nearly all Democrats rejecting the temporary measure, 198-218. The Senate tried to approve its own versions, but also failed, with the law due to expire today at midnight.
After the votes, Trump announced Jay Clayton, a US attorney who previously served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as his permanent pick as intelligence director. But the president’s move did not seem able to break the standoff over Pulte before the deadline.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said:
double quotation markPulte has to go. He cannot be in the DNI role. It’s too important.
In other developments:
- Donald Trump declared “a great settlement” with Iran, which could be signed soon “maybe in Europe, over the weekend”.
- Trump’s hand-picked board at the Kennedy Center is mounting a last-minute effort to keep his name on the facade of the performing arts facility 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 29 May ruling that said Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center, according to a person familiar with the move who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
- Congressman Robert Garcia, who is in line to chair the House oversight committee next year if Democrats win back the majority in November, called for testimony from vice-president JD Vance and other senior officials over what he called “the White House cover-up” of the Epstein files revealed by the New York Times.
- US federal authorities are investigating what appears to be a massive etching of “8647” into the grass of the National Mall. Live webcam footage from atop the Washington Monument as of Thursday afternoon shows the markings, with a highly visible “8,” along with less visible “6”, “4” and “7”.
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Q&A
What is section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act?
Section 702 of Fisa allows the government to collect foreign intelligence information from non-U.S. persons located outside the United States.
Why did Congress fail to extend Fisa's section 702 before the deadline?
Congress has not reached an agreement on extending section 702, despite ongoing debates about its implications for civil liberties and national security.
What are the implications of Fisa's section 702 expiring?
If section 702 expires, it could limit the government's ability to collect foreign intelligence, impacting national security efforts.
Who is Bill Pulte and why is his appointment controversial?
Bill Pulte is the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a Republican donor; his appointment as acting DNI has sparked backlash due to concerns over his qualifications and the timing.
