President Donald Trump’s demand that Congress attach a voter identification bill to an extension of a government spy program will complicate efforts to pass reauthorization of the intelligence authority.Over the weekend, the president urged Congress to tie the SAVE America Act to a renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, warning he would oppose any extension that excludes it. Trump’s demand that the two pieces of legislation be packaged together throws a new wrench into already complicated negotiations.Congress failed to pass a deal to extend Section 702 of FISA ahead of a Friday deadline after Democrats withheld their support for a bipartisan deal over Trump’s appointment of top housing official Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
Trump’s nomination of U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to be the permanent DNI, however, sparked fresh optimism that there may be a path forward to pass a reauthorization of the key spy tool, as Democrats largely welcomed Clayton’s nomination.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, is set to meet with Clayton on Tuesday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to the Washington Examiner. The committee’s nomination hearing for Clayton is scheduled for Wednesday.
