The Republican-controlled House gave approval to a three-year extension of a key U.S. surveillance program after weeks of infighting. The measure adds new oversight, including monthly reviews of FBI searches involving Americans, potential criminal penalties for misuse and a government audit of targeting practices. But it stops short of the central demand from critics: requiring a warrant to access Americans’ communications. Leaders argue the program is vital to national security, while opponents say it still allows warrantless surveillance. Even with the bill's passage Wednesday, next steps in the Senate remain uncertain.
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The White House is warning Congress that funds to pay Department of Homeland Security personnel will “soon run out.” The Office of Management and Budget says in a memo that failure to pass legislation could spark new threats of airport disruptions and national security concerns. The House has come to a standstill as Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican lawmakers are tangled over various issues, including the Homeland Security funds. The memo could help the GOP leader pressure lawmakers to act. It says funding that President Donald Trump tapped to pay Transportation Security Administration and other workers through executive actions will be exhausted by May.
President Donald Trump has signed a bill extending a controversial surveillance program until April 30. The bill was approved by the Senate on Friday in a last-minute scramble to prevent Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act from expiring on Monday. Trump and Republican leaders pushed for its renewal, calling it a matter of national security. Critics are concerned about its impact on civil liberties. The program permits the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant. In doing so, they can incidentally sweep up communications involving Americans who interact with foreign targets.
AP Wire
Congress has approved a short-term renewal of a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies just days before it was set to expire. A bill extending the program until April 30 cleared the Senate by voice vote Friday as Congress raced to send it to President Donald Trump for his signature. Lawmakers turned to a short-term extension of the program after an attempt to pass a five-year renewal failed in a late-night House vote. The short-term fix sets the stage for another showdown in a matter of weeks. The program permits key national security agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant.
Some new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers started working before passing background checks and had problems in their past. ICE announced in January that it completed an unprecedented hiring spree, adding 12,000 officers and agents to double its force. Their mission is to help carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. But the speed with which they were brought on to the payroll, to jobs considered important for national security, has raised alarm. The Associated Press found one new ICE hire had filed for bankruptcy twice and worked for six law enforcement agencies in three years. Another was accused of lying in a police report to justify a felony charge against an innocent woman. A third quit his only prior policing job after three weeks.
AP Wire
President Donald Trump has railed against a federal judge’s decision that continues to block above-ground construction of a $400 million White House ballroom. The decision on Thursday allows only below-ground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued his latest ruling Thursday in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction. Leon said he is ordering a stop only to the above-ground construction of the planned ballroom, apart from any work needed to cover or secure that part of the project.
Judge who halted White House ballroom construction allows national security work to proceed at site.
AP Wire
Trump urges extending foreign surveillance program as some lawmakers push for US privacy protections
There's been a holdup on Capitol Hill in advancing the renewal of a program that lets U.S. spy agencies pore over foreigners’ calls, texts and emails. House Republican leaders hoped to advance the legislation Wednesday, but an initial procedural step has been delayed. Rank-and-file members have pushed back despite a pressure campaign that included a trip to the White House and direct involvement from CIA Director John Ratcliffe. A key part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows American spy agencies to collect and analyze overseas communications without a warrant. The program expires Monday. Critics want changes to safeguard Americans’ communications.
AP Wire
A federal judge has been instructed to reconsider the possible national security implications of halting construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council says it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war.