Becker’s Washington Weekly: Week of June 15
Senate’s FISA Push
The House of Representatives is out of session this week as the Senate looks for a path forward on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702, a critical intelligence collection authority that enables the Intelligence Community to collect, analyze, and share foreign intelligence information about national security threats, which expired on June 12th.
The Senate is expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee to replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (DNI), on Wednesday. Senate Republicans hope to confirm Clayton before Friday when Bill Pulte, whose appointment has been a major roadblock in FISA negotiations, is set to become acting DNI.
It is unclear if the Senate will be able to confirm Clayton by Friday, and Democrats have vowed to oppose any deal on FISA while Pulte is still in line to become acting DNI. Further complicating FISA negotiations, President Trump has said he will oppose any deal on FISA that does not include the SAVE America Act, a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in both chambers continue to navigate the FY’27 appropriations process. While the House has passed its Agriculture appropriations bill, and others, including Labor-HHS, Transportation-HUD, and Homeland Security have been approved by the House Appropriations Committee, Senate appropriators have yet to come to a topline spending agreement, grounding the process in the Senate to a halt. There is currently no timeline for when a deal may be reached.
Lawmakers in the Senate will convene committee hearings this week, including the following:
- The Senate HELP Committee’s Subcommittee on Education and the American family will discuss K-12 education in the AI age.
- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will examine the state of U.S. territories
