WASHINGTON—President Trump is encountering headwinds on a top national-security priority for his administration with several Republicans joining Democrats in refusing to greenlight a federal spy program ahead of a deadline this week.
The pushback from some members of Trump’s own party, who have long said they have constitutional concerns about the program, comes amid broader intraparty friction. Last week, several conservatives voted against advancing legislation to reauthorize the spy program alongside Democrats, who are protesting Trump’s pick of Bill Pulte to temporarily lead the intelligence community.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that talks with Republicans on the legislation were on track before Trump dropped Pulte’s name. Senators, he said, were stunned by the announcement because Pulte had no national-security background or security clearance.
“Giving this guy who will simply roll over or do whatever is—I think it’s a national-security threat. I think it is a choice that even my Republican friends agree is a disaster,” Warner told CNN’s “State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.”
Republican senators on Saturday warned the administration that they didn’t see a path forward on the bill. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, GOP Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Chuck Grassley of Iowa said the administration should “plan for a potential significant gap in foreign-intelligence collection.”
Congressional authority for the program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, expires Friday. The program has been approved in the past under presidents of both parties with bipartisan support, despite the objections from some Republicans and Democrats over civil-liberties concerns.
The program allows the government to collect information on foreigners overseas who are using U.S. communication systems, but it also sweeps up information on Americans who are communicating with those foreigners.
If the stalemate continues and congressional authority lapses, the program wouldn’t shut down immediately. In March, an intelligence court approved the FISA program to continue for another year. But it would put pressure on the administration to find a path forward.
Trump has said the program is crucial for military operations and the war in Iran, pressuring Republicans to extend the program without making any changes. Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for a requirement for warrants for content searches of data collected on Americans.
“When used properly, FISA is an effective tool to keep Americans safe,” Trump wrote in March on social media, urging lawmakers to pass the legislation.
“The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military,” he later added.
Last week, the Senate declined to advance the bill—the latest signal of how Trump’s grip on Congress could be weakening. While some Republican senators questioned the FISA program, others were upset by Trump’s kneecapping of Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s re-election bid and the president’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche later said the administration is abandoning the fund.
Support for the secretive, under-the-radar spying program known as FISA doesn’t fall neatly along party lines. GOP privacy advocates are opposed to the warrantless surveillance of Americans that the tool allows, while some Democrats support it. Republican leaders must count on some Democratic votes to reauthorize the program.
“We can’t give the swamp unchecked power to spy on law-abiding Americans,” said Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
In a social-media post on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the spy program “one of our nation’s most effective tools for identifying and disrupting” domestic terror threats. He called out Democrats for blocking the bill, saying they were “undermining national security and putting politics ahead of the safety of the American people.” He didn’t mention the Republicans who oppose the bill.
“At a time of growing threats around the world, Congress should be strengthening the tools that protect our nation—not weakening them,” Hegseth wrote.
The program initially expired in April. It has already been extended temporarily twice, each time by just a few weeks, as Congress failed to agree on whether and how to change the program.
For weeks, senior Republicans and Democrats supporting the program have been working to make progress on reaching a deal. Complicating the effort was Trump’s naming of Pulte.
Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he wants Pulte to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community. Trump also has signaled that Pulte could spend time on domestic probes, rather than focusing on foreign threats. “He’s a very smart guy, and he may find out some things about the rigged elections,” Trump said Thursday.
Republican and Democratic senators have heaped criticisms on Trump’s choice of Pulte, saying he is unqualified without relevant experience. Some have also sounded alarms that Pulte will use his perch to target the president’s perceived enemies and politicize the agency. Pulte hasn’t publicly responded to the criticism.
Republicans who support the surveillance program and don’t want to see it discontinued lamented the timing of Trump’s announcement on Pulte.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said last week that Section 702 is so important that if Pulte’s appointment slows down the reauthorization of FISA, “I think we’re going to need the assistance of the executive branch in terms of addressing it.”
On Friday, the Senate voted against advancing the legislation by a 47-52 vote. Republican senators voting against it included Scott, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Mike Lee of Utah. One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted in favor.
Write to Yoko Kubota at yoko.kubota@wsj.com
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