Trump pick stalls warrantless spy bill

Who faces the surveillance

The FBI used Section 702 to investigate Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, examining whether they had ties to terrorists, despite no evidence of wrongdoing. A declassified memo released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed this in 2023. The programme collects communications of foreign targets, but sweeps up vast amounts of American correspondence passing through US servers, without a warrant ever being sought.

Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, knows what it means when someone with no intelligence experience wields federal power for political ends. Bill Pulte, now Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s spy agencies, directed the Federal Housing Finance Agency to level unproven fraud allegations against Cook last year. Cook has denied any wrongdoing. Trump tried to use the allegations to remove her from the Fed’s board. She refused. The Supreme Court is now weighing the case.

The political storm

Senate intelligence committee vice-chair Mark Warner said on Tuesday that Pulte’s appointment had destroyed his confidence in the programme’s renewal. “I do not have the confidence I had yesterday,” Warner told NPR. He asked Republican Senate majority leader John Thune to use his influence with the White House to reverse the appointment. Democratic sources say a bipartisan deal on Section 702 could collapse if Trump refuses.

Thune offered a notably cool response. He told reporters the Senate doesn’t need a “weaponized” national intelligence director. “There is a lengthy road ahead of him,” Thune said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to endorse Pulte during separate congressional hearings on Wednesday.

Former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was more direct: “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.”

What’s at stake

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on 12 June. A bipartisan Senate bill led by intelligence chair Tom Cotton and judiciary chair Chuck Grassley would extend the programme through June 2029, adding new penalties for intelligence abuses and additional FBI search requirements. But Democratic support is needed to clear the 60-vote threshold, and Pulte’s appointment has made that significantly harder.

Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy raised the concern that “the very nature of our collection is now going to be put in the hands of somebody who has a history of seeking out private information for political gain.”

The counter-argument

Republicans argue Section 702 is a critical national security tool. They point to extensions already passed to keep the programme alive while Congress negotiates reforms. They note that new penalties for abuses are included in the pending bill. And they insist Trump’s picks deserve a chance to prove themselves.

But that argument sidesteps the core problem: a programme that permits warrantless collection of Americans’ communications should not be renewed by default. The 2020 FBI investigation of Black Lives Matter protesters was not an aberration, it was the logical endpoint of a system designed to sweep up as much data as possible. Reform means nothing if the person overseeing that system has already shown willingness to weaponise federal agencies against political opponents.

The deadline is 12 June. Whether Americans’ private communications remain at the mercy of an unvetted loyalist depends on whether Congress acts.