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Todd Young talks World Cup geopolitics, Section 702 — and 2028
BARGERSVILLE, Indiana — Sen. Todd Young settled into a booth at a Belgian-style brewhouse in a suburb just south of Indianapolis to watch Canada square off against Bosnia and Herzegovina — a little bleary-eyed after a storm-stricken flight back from Washington left him in Columbus, Ohio.
A staffer picked him up and drove him the three or so hours to his native Indiana, where he would spend just one night at home before jetting to New Jersey Saturday for the Brazil vs. Morocco match. There he would headline a fundraiser for a Republican colleague that Young declined to name.
Nothing could keep Young, a co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus, perhaps the Senate’s biggest soccer fan and likely its only member who can score off a scissors kick, from watching the tournament.
On this afternoon, the second of the tournament, he was here to watch a game with Blue Light News and discuss the geopolitics of the day.
“One of the things I’m hopeful for is a really good showing by the United States, so that the game of soccer in the U.S. can use this as a springboard or a catalyst to continue to grow quite a bit into the next decade or so,” Young said.
He had blocked off tonight’s game to watch the U.S.’s opening match versus Paraguay with his soccer-playing daughter.
Young is also one of the key Republicans who is using the World Cup to squeeze Democrats on extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as it expires today. Democrats have refused to support even a short-term extension of the law ever since President Donald Trump nominated Bill Pulte, a political ally with no national security experience, to serve as acting DNI.
“It would be a lot of finger-pointing,” Young said of a potential domestic security lapse. “You should just pull out every stop right now to make sure that there are no problems.”
When Canada went down 1-0 in the 21st minute, he was less interested in the fact that our allies were losing — “they’re very close allies and important trading partners, and increasingly good at soccer, a new export for that country,” he told me — and more interested in the quality of the goal itself.
He dialed in on a replay of Jovo Lukić’s set piece goal.
“Hell of a goal: slip header, near-bar run,” said Young, nursing a Belgian-style blonde.
As halftime approached, our conversation turned to 2028, and the fact that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a fellow Republican, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, were expected to share box seats.
“Oh, that’s good for the country,” Young said, “Good for Marco. And good for Gavin.”
Young, who has spent a significant amount of time thinking about the GOP’s future, was less enthusiastic at answering a question about who might be at the top of his party’s own ticket in 2028. Was he more Team Rubio or Team Vice President JD Vance, a fellow former Midwestern senator with whom he built a relationship before Vance’s ascension?
“Oh, shit,” Young said. “I’m Team USA, brother. I’m Team USA.”
Politics
Republicans use World Cup to squeeze Dems on FISA extension
Republicans are pointing to the World Cup in their persistent bid to force Democrats to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Millions of visitors from foreign countries have already begun their pilgrimage to the tournament, which kicked off this week.
“Hosting the World Cup is akin to having 78 Super Bowls in 38 days — a massive undertaking from a national security perspective,” the Senate GOP wrote in a post on X Friday. “Senate Democrats still let FISA 702 expire, hindering our ability to stop potential terror attacks before they happen.”
The law is all but certain to expire today as Congress remains in uproar over Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence. Efforts to secure a short-term extension in the House and Senate both failed Thursday.
And if a terrorist attack happened at the World Cup? “It would be a lot of finger-pointing,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) told Blue Light News on Friday. “You should just pull out every stop right now to make sure that there are no problems.”
President Donald Trump announced plans to nominate the more palatable Jay Clayton for the full-time DNI job on Thursday, a choice that garnered immediate approval from Republican leadership.
Democrats, Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social, “are trying to take our national security hostage because of unrelated issues.”
But Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking member of the chamber’s Intelligence Committee, placed the blame for the stalemate squarely on Trump. Negotiations on a long-term extension were well on their way before Trump announced his Pulte pick.
“God forbid, as we move into the World Cup, that something would happen,” he told reporters Thursday. “But if something happens, it lies at the feet of the president.”
Young pushed back. The two-term senator disagreed with Trump’s call to tap Pulte for the interim nod, but he said Democrats are the ones passing up an opportunity to reauthorize the law.
“He could have also passed a 702 reauthorization that very night he uttered those words,” he said. “And he and others chose not to.”
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