WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Republicans are warning the White House that a is likely to lapse this week amid bipartisan backlash over President Donald Trump鈥檚 the nation鈥檚 intelligence community.
Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sounded the alarm in a letter over the weekend after a failed procedural vote to extend the program.
The senators urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also acts as the president’s National Security Advisor, to prepare 鈥渇or a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection鈥� if the authority expires. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, set to lapse June 12, allows agencies including the CIA, National Security Agency and FBI to collect communications from foreign targets overseas without a warrant.
In a response obtained by The Associated Press, Rubio replied to the senators that he understands the 鈥減olitical challenges鈥� but said he is 鈥渄eeply disappointed鈥� that Democrats are opposing the legislation.
鈥淎llowing Section 702 to expire would have dire impacts on our ability to keep the nation secure,鈥� Rubio wrote.
Efforts to secure a long-term extension of the program because of bipartisan concerns that the program can incidentally collect Americans鈥� communications. Privacy advocates and some lawmakers have been pushing to create a new warrant requirement before those communications can be searched.
Senate leaders from both parties appeared to be nearing bipartisan agreement on a long-term extension, but the effort collapsed after Trump selected federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence.
Democrats and several Republicans registered their opposition to Trump鈥檚 selection of Pulte, arguing the federal housing finance regulator lacks the experience needed to oversee the nation鈥檚 18 intelligence agencies and has used his current position to investigate some of the president’s perceived political rivals.
鈥淲hy the president would throw this live hand grenade of Bill Pulte in 10 days before this is due to expire, I’m not sure,” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on ABC’s 鈥淭his Week.鈥�
Pulte pick upends bipartisan deal
Even as they say it is critical, Democrats have said they won’t have the votes to renew the surveillance authority unless Pulte’s appointment is withdrawn. Republican leaders tried to start the process last week, but seven Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in blocking a long-term extension.
鈥淭he White House bears the responsibility to fix this,鈥� Warner said. 鈥淭hey have the power to do it. They can do it today. Let鈥檚 see what happens.鈥�
Trump has said that Pulte won’t be his permanent pick, but has not announced a nominee to be confirmed by the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that there are 鈥渃onversations鈥� around the White House nominating a permanent pick for the job before the surveillance authority expires. But he said he wasn’t sure what they would decide to do.
鈥淲e have a deadline ahead of us. We need Democrat votes,鈥� Thune said. 鈥淭he naming of Pulte to that position, although the timing arguably wasn鈥檛 the best, I still don鈥檛 think it ought to derail something that鈥檚 this important.”
Thune has also expressed concern over Pulte’s pick, saying the nation鈥檚 top intelligence post should not be 鈥渨eaponized鈥� and that the job should be filled by 鈥減rofessionals.鈥� Cotton, who rarely strays from supporting Trump and is a leading advocate for the surveillance authority, declined to endorse Pulte last week, saying only that he had 鈥渘o observations on the matter.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 not qualified for the long-term position,鈥� Republican Sen. James Lankford, another member of the Intelligence Committee, told 鈥淔ox 91欧美激情 Sunday.鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been clear on this. He has no national security background.鈥�
Both Republican and Democratic senators skeptical of Pulte pointed to his record at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In the role, he’s been linked with criminal referrals over allegations of mortgage fraud by public officials Trump sought to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Lisa Cook, a board member of the Federal Reserve.
鈥淐learly to get to good-faith negotiations the effort to elevate Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence should be reversed. Immediately,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
A key surveillance tool
The current reauthorization debate is hardly the first time that lawmakers have grappled with the fate of the surveillance program, particularly after a flurry of revelations about of the vast trove of intelligence it collects.
The topic in recent years has scrambled predictable partisan alliances, with Democratic critics of the Trump administration uniting with skeptics of government power on the right in voicing concerns about Section 702鈥檚 renewal.
In 2024, for instance, those divisions nearly caused the program to lapse. The Senate barely missed its midnight deadline that year before approving by a 60-34 margin legislation to reauthorize Section 702 that was subsequently signed by then-President Joe Biden.
In a post on X, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche urged Democrats 鈥渢o come back to the table with their Republican counterparts.鈥�
The authority is 鈥渙ne of our nation鈥檚 key tools for finding and stopping foreign terrorists,” Blanche said.
Cotton and Grassley said they believed Democratic leaders would not support another short-term extension of the surveillance authority and urged Rubio to prepare contingency plans. They said Trump should consider an executive order to prevent a disruption in intelligence collection.
Democrats and Republicans have said they were close on a bipartisan deal on a long-term extension and could still move quickly should a change occur before Friday. Still, the bill would likely need to go through the House 鈥� and the two chambers so far have disagreed on a separate issue regarding central banking digital currency.
Republicans are already warning of the consequences if Congress fails to act.
鈥淚f it goes dark, then it would be a calamitous situation for the country,鈥� House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
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Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
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