Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) urged Democrats not to upend a deal to extend the federal government’s spy powers over President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief.“Honestly, I mean, do you want to be responsible for what could happen if we go dark on that program?” Thune told reporters on Wednesday, one day after Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned him privately that the appointment could jeopardize the emerging compromise, a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.The authority, which lets the government surveil foreign persons without a warrant, expires at the end of next week, and lawmakers in both chambers are having trouble bringing their members on board.
“I just think it’s a really risky strategy on their part,” Thune said of the Democrats. “Obviously, I get their frustration, but at the end of the day, we have to function here, we’ve got to keep the country safe.”
Trump’s appointment of Pulte, a top housing official, blindsided congressional Republicans and Democrats alike on Tuesday. He lacks national security experience and has drawn scrutiny over his mortgage fraud investigations against prominent Democrats.
