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(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is being warned to plan for a “potential significant gap” in foreign intelligence collection now that FISA is set to expire with no compromise in sight.
FISA stands for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and Section 702 allows national security agencies to gather vital surveillance information without a warrant. The Trump administration argues the tool — first made available after 9/11 — is vital to national security, while critics have worried about civil liberties violations.
Punchbowl News’s Andrew Desiderio broke the story Saturday, writing, “Sens. [Tom] Cotton & [Chuck] Grassley ask Rubio to ‘plan for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection’ as Senate Dems block FISA 702 extension over Pulte appointment as acting DNI.” He added the deadline is June 12.
The Cotton-Grassley letter advises Rubio to identify intelligence targets that will be compromised without warrantless FISA surveillance, and to determine other “lawful and constitutional” means of gathering vital information on targets.
SCOOP — Sens. Cotton & Grassley ask Rubio to “plan for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection” as Senate Dems block FISA 702 extension over Pulte appointment as acting DNI. Deadline is next Friday. pic.twitter.com/MPW42YfyGp
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) June 6, 2026
Congressional Democrats and some Republicans have said they will not support FISA renewal as long as Bill Pulte remains President Donald Trump’s choice for acting director of National Security. Pulte has no national intelligence experience, nor a security clearance necessary for the job.
Pulte — who served as Trump’s director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — was named after DNI Tulsi Gabbard stepped down to care for her husband who’s battling cancer.
Trump views Pulte as a loyalist who has proven himself by digging up mortgage fraud allegations against the president’s perceived enemies, like New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Congress has passed multiple short-term FISA extensions that have allowed lawmakers more time to negotiate a full renewal before the deadline next week. They’ll also need to meet a 60-vote threshold in the Senate for the FISA legislation to advance.
If warrantless FISA is allowed to expire, the intelligence community still has surveillance tools at their disposal, including warrant-based Title 1 FISA targeting.
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