{"id":1320,"date":"2026-06-09T22:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1320"},"modified":"2026-06-09T22:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:08:13","slug":"trump-threw-a-live-hand-grenade-into-the-gop-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1320","title":{"rendered":"Trump threw a &#8216;live hand grenade&#8217; into the GOP agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Congress has been locked in an ongoing battle over the reauthorization of a key national security tool that has been repeatedly frustrated by Republican infighting. Now with the extension deadline looming on Friday, Capitol Hill insiders say that President Donald Trump has tossed a \u201clive hand grenade\u201d into the process that threatens to blow it up altogether. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1318\">Tipster claims Trump funded \u2018underage\u2019 entertainment at his golf course: report<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a problem between Senate Democrats and Republicans,\u201d declared <u>Senator Mark Warner<\/u> (D-VA) on Tuesday. \u201cThis was the administration throwing a live hand grenade into a critical reauthorization 10 days out.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The grenade he\u2019s referring to is Bill Pulte, whom Trump nominated to replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. Pulte has drawn bipartisan criticism for his past attempts to help leverage the government against Trump\u2019s enemies, prompting Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SC) to assert, \u201cWe don\u2019t need a weaponized DNI; we need professionals there\u2026 If he\u2019s somebody they want in that position permanently, he\u2019s got a lengthy road ahead of him.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>That road to confirmation crosses paths with the deadline to extend FISA Section 702, which allows the government to monitor the communications of foreign targets without a warrant. The reauthorization has previously been blocked by privacy hawks within the GOP who demand, among other concessions, guardrails to prevent the provision from being used as a \u201cbackdoor\u201d for spying on Americans. <\/p>\n<p>It is precisely that potential for misuse that has Democrats threatening to foil the reauthorization, asserting that Section 702 could be weaponized by Pulte to target Trump\u2019s foes. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea that we\u2019re going to allow Mr. Pulte to be potentially in charge of how this tool is used or manipulated, that\u2019s going to be a very uphill path to convince Democrats,\u201d said Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Senate Intelligence Democrat, on Monday. \u201cThis was a self-inflicted harm.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1316\">Republicans cornered with \u2018bleak\u2019 numbers at private GOP meeting<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Republicans will need the votes of at least 15 Democrats to pass the extension, and are now admitting that Pulte could tank the effort entirely. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all got everything to do with Pulte,\u201d Senate Judiciary Chair <u>Chuck Grassley<\/u> (R-IA) said Monday. He went on to argue that Pulte is only a \u201ctemporary\u201d appointee and that \u201cthe sooner the president gets somebody nominated, the sooner we\u2019re going to be able to get 702 through.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>While the White House has publicly backed Pulte \u2014 who has zero experience in national intelligence \u2013 asserting his qualifications for the position, \u201cTrump is interviewing potential nominees to permanently fill the director of national intelligence role, <u>according to a Republican lawmaker<\/u> and a GOP congressional aide, both of whom were granted anonymity to disclose private conversations. But there\u2019s no guarantee that the president will move quickly, and Republicans said Monday they didn\u2019t know if he would make a decision before Friday\u2019s reauthorization deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Section 702 is allowed to lapse, proponents argue that the country would be left without an essential security tool. Should it expire, intelligence agencies would be required to obtain a court\u2019s approval to monitor targeted communications on a case-by-case basis. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a total mess,\u201d said Representative Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who has been working with Republicans to secure the extension. \u201cVery sadly, I think we\u2019re going to test this untested question about whether the program can run on a judicial certification alone.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1314\">Trump campaign promise is sinking him in this key swing state<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congress has been locked in an ongoing battle over the reauthorization of a key national security tool that has been repeatedly frustrated by Republican infighting. Now with the extension deadline looming on Friday, Capitol Hill insiders say that President Donald Trump has tossed a \u201clive hand grenad&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump threw a &#039;live hand grenade&#039; into the GOP agenda - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1320\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump threw a &#039;live hand grenade&#039; into the GOP agenda - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Congress has been locked in an ongoing battle over the reauthorization of a key national security tool that has been repeatedly frustrated by Republican infighting. 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