President Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence has disrupted congressional negotiations to renew Section 702 of FISA, a key surveillance tool set to expire Friday. - Pulte, known as a partisan attack dog, has no national security experience.
- Democrats and some Republicans oppose his leadership, fearing weaponization of intelligence. - The Senate was close to a three-year extension before the appointment.
- Trump is pushing for another short-term extension rather than reversing Pulte's appointment. The standoff threatens to leave the U.S.
without a critical intelligence-gathering authority, despite broad bipartisan support for the program itself.