Senate Majority Leader John Thune, (R-SD,) said Monday that Senate Republicans are moving forward with plans to renew a key federal surveillance authority as a stand-alone measure, despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that it be tied to election legislation.
Thune told reporters the Senate is working to revive Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expired over the weekend after Congress failed to extend it before a deadline.
“We will try and move 702 as soon as we feel like we have the votes to do it,” Thune said.
The Senate majority leader said lawmakers are counting votes and intend to bring the measure to the floor once sufficient support exists.
While we can’t know the consequences of Democrats’ decision to allow FISA to go dark, we do know it is almost certainly putting our nation at greater risk.
I hope that in the coming days, my Democrat colleagues will rethink their decision to take this program hostage and will… pic.twitter.com/7xhbpjzpwn
Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications involving foreign targets located outside the United States without obtaining traditional warrants. Advocates of the authority argue it is an important national security tool.
Thune pointed to previous comments from a senior Democrat from New Mexico in support of the surveillance program.
“From the senior Democrat from New Mexico, and I quote again. As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I have learned the vital role that FISA’s Section 702 authority plays in bolstering our nation’s ability to effectively fight terrorism, disrupt foreign cyberattacks, impede drug trafficking, and protect U.S. troops,” Thune said.
Trump has urged Congress to attach the SAVE America Act to any renewal of Section 702. The voter identification bill has stalled in the Senate despite calls from supporters to change Senate rules and bypass the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Thune said linking the two measures would be difficult because the SAVE America Act does not currently have enough support to pass as part of the surveillance legislation.
Trump reiterated his position Monday in a Truth Social post.
“A few Dumocrats are against FISA, with or without Bill Pulte going to DNI, as Acting. What kind of a deal is that. Besides, I’m against FISA if it doesn’t come with The Save America Act (Full version!) firmly attached to it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.
Asked whether he was concerned Trump could veto a stand-alone renewal, Thune said he hoped the president would ultimately support restoring the authority.
“I certainly would hope if we can get FISA off the floor, he would sign it,” Thune said.
Thune also suggested Democratic opposition to renewing Section 702 could ease after the Senate confirms Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence.
“That’s probably all contingent on Clayton getting confirmed and in position,” he said.
Democrats in both chambers blocked intelligence legislation last week following objections to Trump’s appointment of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
Meanwhile, House Republicans continue to pursue the SAVE America Act. Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-LA) said Sunday that Republicans intend to advance the measure despite opposition from Democrats.
“So we’re gonna have to do it on our own. I’m gonna attach it to the reconciliation 3.0 and I’ve told the president, we’re gonna work really hard to make sure that gets to his desk,” Johnson said.
Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 14:20Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett didn’t mince words on Monday: the clock for regime change in Iran starts ticking the moment Israel gets a new government.
Chairman of the “Together” party and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks during a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 20, 2026. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Speaking at the Knesset, Bennett unloaded on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, declaring that his term "began with a civil war, continued with the massacre of October 7, and ends with a historic failure against Iran." He tied any serious effort to topple the Iranian regime directly to political change in Jerusalem.
Bennett promised that under new leadership he would revive the "Octopus Doctrine" - hitting Iran with every tool available while blocking its nuclear path - and fix the IDF’s manpower crisis by ending haredi draft exemptions. “When there are no soldiers, you have to conquer the same point again and again, and that way you can’t win,” he said. “We can restore security to Israel.”
(Abir Sultan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Hardliners and Hawks Slam the DealBennett wasn’t alone. Several hardline and hawkish voices erupted in fury over the reported Trump-brokered US-Iran ceasefire agreement, blasting it as a lifeline to the Ayatollahs that leaves Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missiles, and regional proxies largely intact, the jpost.com reports.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was blistering on X:
"Trump’s agreement does not bind us. Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation! We are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security… We must not compromise on anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah, we must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have captured and cleared of terror infrastructure…" - Itamar Ben-Gvir on X, June 15, 2026Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was equally blunt:
"The agreement with Iran is bad for Israel and for the entire free world. Period… We will need to continue the campaign to topple the regime ourselves and in creative ways and ensure that Iran never has nuclear weapons." - Bezalel Smotrich on X, June 15, 2026Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats, went further, calling the deal a strategic disaster engineered while Netanyahu stood “weak, sick, isolated, and lacking influence.” He accused Netanyahu of being “good for Hamas… good for Iran… good for Hezbollah” and declared:
"Replacing him is not just a political necessity - it is an existential security imperative." - Yair Golan on X, June 15, 2026Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot described an “abyss” between the government’s empty “total victory” promises and the reality of a failed leadership that had abandoned Israeli residents. Centrist Benny Gantz warned that any restrictions on Israel’s freedom of action in Lebanon or withdrawals that endanger the north were unacceptable.
The Core Demand: No More Half-MeasuresAcross these statements runs a clear through-line: the current government is too weak, too constrained by American pressure, and too compromised to deliver the decisive blow against Iran and Hezbollah. Bennett and Golan explicitly frame real regime-change pressure as something that can only happen after Netanyahu is gone. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, still in the coalition, are already signaling they will not be bound by the deal and will push for maximalist goals anyway.
Defense Minister Israel Katz tried to draw a harder line by vowing the IDF would stay in security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza “indefinitely.” But the louder chorus from Bennett, the hard right, and parts of the opposition is that only new leadership - or at least a complete break from Netanyahu’s approach - can deliver the aggressive, multi-front campaign they believe is necessary.
Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 14:00