Fisa spy powers almost certain to expire after Congress fails to act – US politics live
Congress fails to act as Fisa spy powers set to expire
Hello and welcome to the US live blog.
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:
Pulte has to go. He cannot be in the DNI role. It’s too important.
In other developments:
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Donald Trump declared “a great settlement” with Iran, which could be signed soon “maybe in Europe, over the weekend”.
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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.
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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.
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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”.
Key events
The United States begin their World Cup challenge – their first on US soil for 32 years – today, taking on Paraguay in a high-stakes match in Los Angeles.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio will attend the opening match. Donald Trump has said he would be present at other games in the tournament, but hasn’t specified which.
The start of the action on the pitch will have come as a welcome relief to football’s world governing body Fifa, which has faced stinging criticism over the eye-watering cost of tickets.
In addition, Trump’s immigration crackdown has seen a top Somalian referee, Iranian team officials and dozens of fans refused entry to the United States.
For all things World Cup, my colleagues have got you covered:
About half of evangelical Christians – a core component of Donald Trump’s political base – believe his administration’s approach to the Iran war and immigration enforcement is not in line with their understanding of Christianity, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Evangelicals helped power the Republican’s 2024 election victory, and Trump and his top officials including defense secretary Pete Hegseth have regularly used religious language in describing their goals and policies.
Republicans will be counting on them in the November midterm elections, when they will be defending thin majorities in the US Senate and House of Representatives.
Some 54% of evangelicals in the 3-8 June poll said Trump’s use of the military in Iran was not in line with their understanding of Christianity, while 41% said it was in line with it.
Some 51% of evangelicals said the administration’s approach to immigration policy was not in line with Christian values, with 44% saying it was.
Donald 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.
The formal stay will be filed on Friday, the person said.
Cooper ruled that only Congress could institute a change to the Kennedy Center’s name and ordered references to Trump be removed by Friday. He also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.
The board move marks a shift from a 4 June memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel saying email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center”.
The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped the president’s name. And an email earlier this week sent to members offering ticket packages for the 28 June Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.
Sanya Mansoor
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…
Congress fails to act as Fisa spy powers set to expire
Hello and welcome to the US live blog.
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:
Pulte 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”.
