It has been said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel—but we might need harsher terms to describe how some prominent figures in the Trump administration are appealing to Congress to extend a warrantless surveillance program that is routinely used to spy on Americans.
Lawmakers who refuse to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are advancing "marxism" and reversing "patriotic reform," argued Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, in a post on Twitter.
"A libertarian demand to make SecWar get approval from liberal DC judges (the ones who targeted Trump) is madness," Miller wrote in a separate post.
What has Miller in such a tizzy? On Friday, a bipartisan group of senators (including seven Republicans) blocked the renewal of Section 702 in response to President Donald Trump's nomination of Bill Pulte to be the new director of national intelligence. Without congressional approval on an extension, those spying powers will expire on June 12.
With reauthorization uncertain, Trump—who used to oppose the reauthorization of federal warrantless spying powers—and the rest of the White House are pulling out all the stops. "America faces real threats from foreign adversaries, terrorists, cyber actors, and hostile intelligence services," wrote Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his own Twitter post about the reauthorization fight. "Section 702 remains one of our nation's most effective tools for identifying and disrupting those threats before they reach our shores."
Lawmakers who refuse to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are advancing "marxism" and reversing "patriotic reform," argued Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, in a post on Twitter.
"A libertarian demand to make SecWar get approval from liberal DC judges (the ones who targeted Trump) is madness," Miller wrote in a separate post.
What has Miller in such a tizzy? On Friday, a bipartisan group of senators (including seven Republicans) blocked the renewal of Section 702 in response to President Donald Trump's nomination of Bill Pulte to be the new director of national intelligence. Without congressional approval on an extension, those spying powers will expire on June 12.
With reauthorization uncertain, Trump—who used to oppose the reauthorization of federal warrantless spying powers—and the rest of the White House are pulling out all the stops. "America faces real threats from foreign adversaries, terrorists, cyber actors, and hostile intelligence services," wrote Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in his own Twitter post about the reauthorization fight. "Section 702 remains one of our nation's most effective tools for identifying and disrupting those threats before they reach our shores."
3 months ago
