The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes the government to surveil foreign threats and has been renewed without incident for decades, expires on July 4. This is a fixed date. Trump has decided it is a lever.
He wants Congress to attach the SAVE America Act, which includes voter ID requirements, to the FISA renewal. The SAVE America Act passed the House in May with zero Democratic votes and has not passed the Senate. Attaching it to FISA does not change any of those numbers. It just means that if the Senate does not pass voter ID, the foreign surveillance authority lapses on the Fourth of July, which is the kind of deadline that requires explaining to allies who are watching the U.S. manage a 60-day nuclear ceasefire with Iran.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the linkage “challenging,” which is Beltway for “I have been asked to publicly not say what I actually think about this.” Senator Chuck Schumer called it “deeply reckless,” which is Schumer’s register for everything, but is also in this specific case simply a description of the situation. Letting the NSA’s surveillance authority expire over a voting bill is not a negotiating position. It is holding national security hostage to a domestic political fight, and the hostage has a birthday.
The people most inconvenienced by a FISA lapse are the intelligence agencies that are currently monitoring a post-war Middle East, managing the aftermath of the Iran deal, and reporting to an acting DNI whose security clearance remains unconfirmed. Trump signed a peace agreement at Versailles last night. The surveillance law that helps verify compliance with that agreement expires in 16 days if Congress does not pass voter ID.
Thune is described as working on the problem. “Working on the problem” means finding a way to give the president something that resembles what he wants without triggering the senators who will not vote for it.
When the president’s asking price for keeping the anti-terrorism law alive is an election bill that cannot pass, what exactly is he willing to let expire?
Sources
Fox News: Trump calls for SAVE America Act linked to FISA
The Intercept: Senate Democrats’ reaction, the SAVE Act linkage, and the July 4 deadline
Washington Examiner: Trump sends Senate GOP reeling with intelligence chief chaos
