Dems Threaten to Block Surveillance Law Unless New Spy Chief Drops Out

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House, signaled on Monday that Democrats would not vote to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) if Bill Pulte is allowed to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence.

But some Democrats are worried that getting rid of Pulte doesn’t fix the major problems with FISA, a controversial spying law that can be used against Americans, which will expire later this week if it’s not reauthorized by Congress.

“There were already challenges when it came to extending foreign surveillance authority, given the refusal by the Trump administration to put in place the kind of common sense reforms that would be designed to both promote our national security interests on the one hand, and on the other protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people,” Jeffries said at a press conference Monday.

“The negotiations, prior to Trump’s announcement, with respect to Bill Pulte, were already in a very sensitive place. And then Donald Trump, as he often does, tosses a hand grenade into those sensitive negotiations by elevating Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence,” said Jeffries.

Pulte was named by President Trump to follow Tulsi Gabbard, who announced she was stepping down from the role later this month, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. Pulte has no experience in national security or the intelligence community and has been serving as the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency during Trump’s second term.

Pulte infamously recommended that the Department of Justice open investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, and Democratic politicians, alleging some form of mortgage fraud. The move was transparently a way to weaponize laws against critics of President Trump, and most people assume that’s the reason Pulte is being installed as the acting Director of National Intelligence.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, referred to Pulte as a “national security risk” on Sunday and said the long list of ways that he may be utilized to help Trump is “extraordinarily frightening.” Warner imagined a scenario in which Pulte might lie and say there was a threat to election integrity by a foreign power, prompting Trump to deploy ICE to polling stations and federalize the midterm elections.

Even if the Democrats are successful in withholding their vote to reauthorize FISA, in exchange for getting rid of Pulte, that wouldn’t fix the central problem with FISA: warrantless surveillance. Supporters insist that Section 702 of FISA just gives agencies like the CIA and NSA the tools they need to keep America safe. But critics have long pointed out that safeguards in the law are so broadly phrased (like the term “foreign intelligence information”) and cynically exploited that there’s nothing stopping bulk collection of Americans’ communications.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, understands the issue better than most and issued a statement on his website laying out the problems with focusing on Pulte.

“Bill Pulte’s appointment as acting Director of National Intelligence is a symptom of the larger problem: Warrantless FISA surveillance depends on a handful of government officials to choose not to misuse the most powerful spying apparatus the world has ever seen,” said Wyden.

“Firing Pulte won’t solve the real problem,” the senator continued. “Americans are demanding real protections written into the law, not promises that the next guy will be trustworthy.”

The deadline for Section 702 to be reauthorized is Friday, June 12, and legislators are negotiating a three-year extension. And Republicans worry that Trump has messed up their ability to get an easy bipartisan deal done.

“I don’t think he thinks about the impact on us and the timing,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, told Politico. “Which is unfortunate because it really has had an impact. Quite honestly, I’m worried about what we’re going to do on FISA.”