Trump Throws New Wrench in Efforts to Renew Key Spy Bill

Donald Trump has again upended efforts to renew a critical surveillance statute just as lawmakers had begun to reopen stalled talks.

The president declared on Truth Social Monday that any work to renew FISA Section 702, a statute that allows federal agencies such as the NSA and the CIA to surveil foreigners on U.S. soil without warrants, must be passed alongside his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act.

That legislative measure sparked nationwide controversy earlier this year, particularly over a detail in the bill that would have made it more difficult for married women to vote. The backlash on Capitol Hill was grave, so much so that it gummed up efforts to fund Homeland Security for several months. Republicans eventually had to bail on the package to end the congressional gridlock.

The SAVE America Act suggests numerous amendments to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, including line items that would abolish mail-in voting, require voters to bring proof of citizenship and proof of residency to register to vote, require voter ID, and mandate voter roll purges every 30 days—an enormous bureaucratic task that would place undue burdens on local election officials. The measure would also add a federal law to prevent men from competing in women’s sports, and a ban on “transgender mutilation surgery.”

Last week, Democrats logjammed conservative efforts to renew the FISA section in direct protest against the president’s temporary pick to run national intelligence, real estate developer Bill Pulte, who they argued had run afoul of the law by accepting the position. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence explicitly, legally requires its chiefs to have national security experience.

As a result, the spy bill expired on Friday, and Republicans were able to convince Trump to withdraw Pulte and nominate a new—if equally unqualified—candidate for the job. That man was Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who would also come to Washington with zero national security experience.

Yet as he gears up for his initial committee hearing Wednesday, Democrats have signaled that they might actually be willing to work with Clayton. Senate Intelligence Ranking Member Mark Warner—a Democratic lawmaker from Virginia—told CBS News on Sunday that he’s interested in confirming Clayton as quickly as possible to advance talks to renew the FISA section.

Israel is refusing to remove its IDF troops from Lebanon, even after the U.S. and Iran announced a memorandum of understanding that hinges on the withdrawal. The move could once again jeopardize any chance of a peace deal, as one of Iran’s primary demands is the end of Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Lebanon.

“Israel is not subordinate to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign state,” said Israel’s right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for the flattening of Beirut and the kidnapping of Lebanese women and children. “We must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have occupied and cleared of terrorist infrastructure,” he added. Defense Minister Israel Katz also declared that the Israel Defense Forces would remain in Lebanon “indefinitely.”

“The area will be cleared of local residents and all terrorist infrastructure, above and below ground—including the houses in the contact villages that served as terrorist outposts—will be destroyed,” he said.

These statements make President Trump’s Sunday announcement of a deal ending the war all the more tenuous, as a final deal isn’t scheduled to be signed until Friday. Trump already rebuked Israel on Sunday for bombing Beirut “on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.”

Nearly 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, with nearly 12,000 injured and over a million displaced.

Last year, the Trump administration was considering suspending the constitutional right of habeas corpus, The New York Times reports.

Some officials pushing President Trump’s mass deportation agenda, chiefly White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, wanted to get rid of the key right, which compels the government to explain in court why it has detained a person. Miller’s goal was to prevent immigrants in government custody from receiving hearings or court orders blocking their deportation.

This idea alarmed others in the Trump administration, who saw it as legally weak and likely to be overturned in court. Among them was Will Scharf, a right-wing lawyer serving as White House staff secretary, who was the last person who saw paperwork before it reached the president’s desk.

In April, Scharf wrote a secret memo to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles warning of the dangers of suspending habeas corpus, pointing out its legal pitfalls. He also wrote another memo to Wiles warning against invoking the Insurrection Act, another legally questionable idea pushed by some in the administration, including Miller.

In October, Scharf wrote a memo against invoking the act, saying that it “serves as a break-the-glass exception to the traditional, general prohibition on the use of the military in the domestic setting.” He pointed out that it was last used in 1992 during riots in Los Angeles at the request of the California governor, and its invocation would be unprecedented to use against immigration protesters.

After Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents in Minnesota in January, administration officials, led by Vice President JD Vance and Miller, revived the idea of using the Insurrection Act. Ultimately, it wasn’t invoked, and the government also did not suspend habeas corpus.

But the Trump administration has still continued to use authoritarian means to implement the president’s mass deportations, treating immigrants who have been in the country for decades as if they have just shown up at a U.S. border. The fact that Trump has not resorted to extreme legal arguments is only a minor victory as violent deportations and draconian immigration policies continue, as he considers federal courts inconvenient obstacles rather than a constitutionally mandated check on his power.

President Trump was seen smiling after a UFC fighter used his post-victory interview to shout that former first lady Michelle Obama was a man—a racist right-wing conspiracy theory that has followed her since 2008.

“Fuck the speech. Aye, shoutout to Trump for having the balls to put some shit like this on,” Josh Hokit said to Joe Rogan after his second-round knockout of Derrick Lewis at Sunday’s America 250 fight night. “And if I’m gonna say anything, there’s only one person more incredible than the incredible hulk, and that’s my lord and Savior Jesus Christ.… And lastly: Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?” 

Hokit was met with a mix of boos and cheers. Another camera showed the president, sitting ringside, reacting to the comment with a light smile. There was no public rebuke or condemnation from anyone present. 

“‘Michelle Obama is a man’ shouted on the White House lawn in a ring sponsored by Bud Light only available on Larry Ellison’s Paramount Plus,” The Bulwark’s Tim Miller posted on X. “What a way to celebrate America 250 and the twilight of liberal democracy.”

The “transvestigation” into Michelle Obama has been a yearslong effort to spite, harass, demoralize, and delegitimize this country’s first Black first lady. Given the other lies Trump has told about her husband, it’s no wonder he found the crass comment humorous.  

“With Joe Rogan smiling along,” said journalist Medhi Hasan. “(Of course I don’t need to bore you all by telling you that if this was an event hosted by a Dem president and someone said this about Laura Bush or Nancy Reagan … well … you know the rest…).” 

The White House UFC tournament’s biggest problem might be just a few millimeters in size.

The UFC is hosting its America 250 celebration on Sunday, June 14—Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and Flag Day—on the White House’s South Lawn. But in an unexpected turn of events, bugs are likely to be the major opponent during the executive mansion’s first ever cage match.

University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp told Axios Friday that the odds of a winged invasion during Sunday’s festivities was 100 percent.

“This event is going to draw a big crowd,” Raupp said. “But guess what? There are going to be even more bugs joining.”

The swarm will include midges, mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, winged beetles, “a whole cadre of night-flying moths,” mosquitos, and possibly biting black flies. The buzz will also serve as a banquet for bats that feed on small, flying insects.

The unfortunate reality of the grounds has not been lost on UFC President Dana White, who told Boardroom that he had encountered a “holy shit” level of gnats during a visit last month to the White House’s recently renovated Rose Garden (an artifact of Jackie Onassis’s gentle touch that Trump has since paved with concrete).

“The amount of gnats that were flying around, I’m like, ‘Holy shit’,” White said.

“As soon as I got on the plane, I called my head of production and said, ‘Let me tell you about the gnat situation.’”

Fighters in the octagon will be lit by an enormous, five-ton lighting rig that includes more than 175 square feet of LED lighting—a setup that White observed would be the perfect magnet for all sorts of flying insects.

Beyond that, the bugs could cause a sticky problem between fighters. “In your nose, in your mouth while you’re trying to fight,” White noted while lamenting the complicated nature of outdoor events. He added that his team was considering installing large fans around the cage to keep the bugs away from the action. Those in attendance, however, are unlikely to find similar reprieve.

Mother Nature has other challenges in store for Trump’s birthday bash, as well. Washington is expected to be hot and muggy this weekend, with possible thunderstorms on Sunday evening that could affect the 8 p.m. main card.

White has told reporters that the show will go on, no matter if there’s rain, snow, or “even lightning.”

“You guys all played sports when you were growing up,” White said Wednesday. “Whenever there was lightning, you’d sit the lightning out. When it was over, you played. That’s what we’ll do.”