Trump’s elevating Bill Pulte as intelligence chief could mean FISA spy power expires

FISA Section 702, a powerful surveillance tool, faces a risk of expiring this week after President Donald Trump named Bill Pulte as acting national intelligence director.

WASHINGTON — A powerful surveillance tool backed by national security hawks faces a risk of expiring this week after President Donald Trump moved to put it in the hands of an ally without a national security background.

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Trump tapped housing official Bill Pulte last week to replace Tulsi Gabbard on an acting basis as director of national intelligence. Pulte is known for pushing criminal investigations into Trump’s adversaries for mortgage fraud, which Democrats and the targets of those probes say are selective and politically motivated.

The DNI oversees Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which gives the administration powers to spy on foreign nationals living abroad without obtaining warrants. The program has long faced criticism from privacy hawks on the left and the right who say that it enables the government to sweep up data on Americans and that it is ripe for abuse.