By David Morgan and Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday to discuss his controversial appointment of loyalist Bill Pulte as spy chief, which has threatened passage of a surveillance law in Congress.
Trump’s appointment of the mortgage regulator to serve as acting director of national intelligence has led to a showdown on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers worry he may abuse his position to pursue Trump’s perceived enemies. That has complicated efforts to renew the law, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor some foreign communications without court approval. The law expires on Friday.
The No. 2 House Republican, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, said Johnson was meeting with Trump to discuss next steps.
“One of the reasons that the speaker’s not here right now is he’s over at the White House working with the president to finalize this agreement on FISA,” Scalise told reporters, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The renewal effort stalled in the Senate last Friday, as Republican skeptics joined with Democrats to vote against bringing it up for debate. The vote represented a significant setback for Republicans, who narrowly control both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Both the House and the Senate will need to approve the surveillance authority, contained in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows intelligence agencies to monitor emails and other communications of foreigners located outside the U.S. without individual judicial warrants.
As the head of a low-profile mortgage regulator, Pulte accessed confidential data to push for mortgage fraud probes against several of the president’s perceived foes. No criminal charges have been brought against any of them.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Katharine Jackson in Washington; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Matthew Lewis)
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