FBI Director Kash Patel says his agency is making terrorist attack prevention its top job during the FIFA World Cup games, which kick off Thursday afternoon.  “Extremists have used major global sporting events in the past to do harm and spread their twisted ideologies,” Patel wrote in a Wednesday social media post. “We are totally…

FBI Director Kash Patel says his agency is making terrorist attack prevention its top job during the FIFA World Cup games, which kick off Thursday afternoon.  “Extremists have used major global sporting events in the past to do harm and spread their twisted ideologies,” Patel wrote in a Wednesday social media post. “We are totally…

Secure America Act passes largely along party lines in 214-212 vote, ending months-long standoff with Democrats

House Republicans on Tuesday approved a $70bn bill funding through the duration of his term the agencies leading Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, ending a months-long standoff with Democrats that at one point forced the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to shutter.

The Secure America Act passed in a 214-212 vote that was largely along party lines, with Kevin Kiley, an independent who aligns with the Republicans, joining all Democrats in voting no. The Senate approved the measure last week, which allocates $38bn to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26bn to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and $5bn more to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September 2029. The legislation now awaits Trump’s signature.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

President backs Pulte for acting DNI chief despite backlash that puts reauthorization of key surveillance law at risk

Donald Trump met with the House speaker, Mike Johnson, at the White House on Tuesday as pressure mounts on the president to nominate a permanent director of national intelligence, the step some Republicans now believe is the only way to save a controversial and powerful surveillance law before it expires by the end of the week.

At stake is section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a post-9/11 authority that allows US intelligence agencies to collect the communications of foreign targets overseas without a court warrant. While the program is intended to target non-Americans abroad, it can also sweep up communications involving Americans. This powerful and contentious spy tool is set to expire at midnight on Thursday.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Speaker Mike Johnson will need near perfect attendance and unity on his side to complete weeks of action on the bill.