Congress

GOP leaders delay FISA vote amid GOP rebellion

Published

2 months ago

April 15, 2026

House GOP leaders postponed a Wednesday procedural vote on an extension of a key federal spy powers program as they scramble to land a deal with hard-liners around changes — acknowledging the truly “clean” extension that President Donald Trump is demanding is currently DOA in the chamber.

There are ongoing discussions around modifying the clean, 18-month extension of the surveillance authority known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that Trump is ordering. GOP leaders acknowledged in private conversations Tuesday night and publicly Wednesday morning that at least some tweaks are necessary to quell a GOP rebellion that could lead to Section 702’s expiration April 20.

Republican leaders are still hoping to hold a procedural vote later Wednesday to pave the way for floor consideration of the measure, if they can strike an agreement with hold-outs around some changes. A final vote would then happen around 10 p.m. Wednesday. But Speaker Mike Johnson was noncommittal in an interview late Wednesday morning if all that could still happen. “We’ll see,” he said.

Conversations around potential changes picked up Tuesday night, as Blue Light News first reported. Holdouts are asking for guardrails on the program, including warrant requirements; the White House is open to making changes in this regard but likely in a more watered-down capacity than what hard-liners have been seeking.

Ultraconservatives are also pushing House GOP leaders and the White House to follow through on a previous promise to advance a ban on a central bank digital currency, known as CBDC. House GOP leadership and the White House are pushing for a longer Section 702 extension in exchange for advancing that policy or other reforms, while some hard-liners want the promised CBDC ban passed as a standalone rather than attached to the FISA bill.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in an interview that White House officials, GOP leaders and Republican holdouts are discussing some “potential amendments.” He added, “We’re still negotiating.” He maintained GOP leaders and White House officials won’t incorporate any changes that undermine the underlying government surveillance program.

Nothing has been agreed to. And Scalise said in an earlier interview leaders would likely incorporate “minor tweaks” into the procedural rule governing floor debate on the underlying bill — if the White House approves.

So far, however, conversations have not sufficiently moved the needle. Hard-liners aren’t budging, continuing resisting renewed calls from Trump and an increasingly aggressive pressure campaign from the administration. That includes a detailed presentation from CIA Director John Ratcliffe at Wednesday morning’s closed-door House GOP Conference meeting on the need for a clean extension.

“Look, he’s the executive, we’re the legislative, and we’re going to see a little bit of conflict between those two today,” Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said Wednesday, referring to the president.

GOP Reps. Michael Cloud of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and other hard-liners stood up in the GOP Conference meeting to raise their concerns about a clean reauthorization and continued push for overhauling the program. Some Republicans grew irritated that Ratcliffe “filibustered” until close to the end of the meeting’s scheduled conclusion to avoid taking challenging questions, according to four people in the meeting.

Even before the rule vote was postponed, several rank-and-file members said they were not confident the rule would be adopted.

“There are some who will vote against the rule for sure,” said one House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly. “It’s a math issue.”

Democrats aren’t expected to help Republicans overcome the procedural rule, even though some of them support a reauthorization without policy changes at this time. The top Democrats on the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees — Reps. Jim Himes of Connecticut and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, respectively — discussed a joint proposal for a package of FISA overhaul provisions at their party’s weekly caucus meeting Monday morning, which they plan to attempt to advance if the Republicans’ rule fails, according to two people in the meeting.

A fail safe option, if negotiations don’t yield results soon, is to pursue a very short term clean extension — possibly a few months — to buy more time for talks. White House officials and GOP leaders are trying to avoid that scenario.

Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.

Congress

Thune is ‘hopeful’ Mitch McConnell will return this week

Published

2 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he hopes his predecessor as top Republican, Mitch McConnell, returns this week from a hospitalization.

Thune said he had not yet spoken directly with the 84-year-old Kentuckian but is getting “readouts from his staff.”

Asked about McConnell’s condition or if he knew if he would be back this week, Thune told reporters, “I’m hopeful that he’ll be back this week.”

A McConnell spokesperson said Sunday that he had been admitted to the hospital but did not provide details on his condition or why he was hospitalized — a break from recent prior instances where the seven-term senator was hospitalized.

A former McConnell staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity was told the senator was doing much better Monday without any further details on what put him in the hospital.

Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate to confirm Jay Clayton as soon as Thursday

Published

4 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate could vote as soon as Thursday on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence — a lightning speed pace that will necessitate buy-in from all 100 senators.

Confirming Clayton could help shore up enough votes from Democrats to extend a government surveillance program that expired last Friday over opposition to Trump’s pick for acting director, Bill Pulte.

“He will come out of the committee Thursday, at least hopefully, and then if we get consent, we can move,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Monday about Clayton, who Trump only nominated for the job late last week.

Democrats “ought to be happy with Clayton,” said Thune, adding that he’s a “good” and “solid” pick.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, floated Sunday to CBS News that Clayton could be confirmed this week if every senator cooperates.

Senate Intelligence will hold a hearing Wednesday on Clayton’s nomination. If every member of the panel agrees, he could then get a committee vote Thursday. Confirming Clayton on the Senate floor hours later would require getting agreement from every senator to speed up the process. Opposition from a single member will punt Clayton’s confirmation to next week.

Confirming Clayton Thursday would, crucially, limit — and potentially circumvent — Pulte from becoming acting director of national intelligence, which Trump has slated to take place Friday, June 19.

The president’s decision to put Pulte in charge after Tulsi Gabbard’s departure at the helm of the Office of National Intelligence sparked bipartisan pushback, with Democrats saying they will withhold support for extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while Pulte is in the acting role. Congress allowed the key government spy authority lapse last Friday without a deal.

Trump threw another curveball into a FISA extension over the weekend when he posted on social media that he was against reauthorizing Section 702 unless a GOP elections bill is attached. That bill, known as the SAVE America Act, does not have the votes to get through Congress.

Thune threw cold water Monday on tying the two issues together.

“Yeah, he’s, as you know, passionate about getting that done and wants to use every opportunity to take a shot at it,” Thune said of Trump and his desire to enact the elections bill.

But, Thune said, “we can’t get FISA done” if the policies are linked.

Congress

Senate eyes vote on updated housing affordability legislation

Published

6 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning to put an updated version of a bipartisan housing affordability bill on the Senate floor for a vote this week, according to two people familiar with the bill dynamics and two Senate Democratic aides granted anonymity to discuss ongoing plans.

The version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that the Senate will vote on will include most of the House-passed language, including a provision restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The legislation would also add back Senate bills that were dropped from the House package that passed last month, the two people and the two aides said.

The Senate legislation comes after talks between Thune, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The updated Senate package was also discussed with the House and the White House, the aides said.

Still, it’s unclear if House leadership and the White House have signed off on the legislation.

The Senate and House have gone back and forth for months on language for a housing affordability bill as lawmakers on both sides look for a win to tout during a midterm election season dominated by cost-of-living issues.

Both chambers overwhelmingly passed their own versions of the housing bill — the Senate 89-10 in March, and the House 396-13 in May. The White House supported the Senate-passed bill and then backed the House-passed bill after it retained most of the Senate’s language on reining in private equity and other large Wall Street investors in the housing market — a top priority for President Donald Trump.

The Senate’s updated legislation would remove two of the House’s community banking deregulation bills due to budget scoring concerns, said two of the people familiar: two bills that would modify the Federal Deposit Insurance Act around failed insured depository institutions. The Senate bill also added back a provision to authorize the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for seven years, as opposed to a permanent reauthorization in the Senate’s March legislation.

The Senate additionally re-inserted several upper-chamber priorities, including the BUILD NOW Act, which would incentivize communities to build more housing through the Community Development Block Grant program; the Rental Assistance Demonstration bill, which would raise the cap on housing authorities to convert voucher-based assistance; the Moving to Work bill, which would aim to add a new cohort of MTW public housing agencies; and the VALID Act, which would require Federal Housing Administration mortgage disclosures to include cost comparison information for veterans.

The package retains core wins for the leaders of both the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees and their members and reflects input from all four leaders of those panels, one of the people familiar said.