House and Senate fail to pass short-term extension of FISA ahead of Friday’s expiration deadline
The U.S. Capitol on November 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House and Senate on Thursday failed to pass last-minute, short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire on Friday.
The House failed to pass a three-week extension of the spy program in a 198-218 vote, well short of the two-thirds majority needed. Nineteen House Republicans voted against the bill. Seven House Democrats voted in favor of it.
In the Senate, three separate efforts to unanimously pass short-term extensions of FISA authorities also failed.
The House and Senate are expected to now leave town as it grows increasingly likely that FISA’s legal authorization will lapse for the first time in the program’s history.
Efforts on Capitol Hill to renew FISA stalled after President Donald Trump tapped Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence. Democrats in the House and Senate are opposed to Pulte, arguing the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency does not have any national intelligence experience.
Pulte is also known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney GeneralLetitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.
“Today, we just offered a simple, clean, three-week extension of the FISA national security law. The Democrats, 199 of them, voted against a clean, three-week extension for political purposes,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the failed vote. “And when the bill went down, they applauded it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune led an effort to extend the program for one singular week until Pulte is installed to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month she was stepping down from the post.
“This is a program that saves American lives. And I have to ask the question: I can’t for the life of me figure out why the Democrats continue to support policies that make this country less safe,” Thune said.
House Minority Hakeem Jeffries called Thursday’s vote a “show vote” from Republicans.
“Bill Pulte has no national security experience, no law enforcement experience and no military experience,” Jeffries said. “So, it is highly irresponsible to try to elevate Bill Pulte, as we’ve made publicly clear repeatedly to Republicans and to the administration.”
Speaker Johnson met with Trump twice this week to try to hammer out a FISA deal.
Trump on Wednesday repeated his praise for Pulte, who will take over as intelligence chief for Tulsi Gabbard following her resignation, despite the challenges his temporary appointment presented for FISA.
“He’s going to do a good job,” Trump told reporters. “He’s going to be there for a very short period of time. He will be superseded and replaced by somebody that’s going to have the job permanently.”
Trump on Thursday afternoon, after the FISA votes failed on Capitol Hill, announced a new permanent pick for director of national intelligence: Jay Clayton.
Melat Kiros participated in a League of Women Voters Congressional District 1 candidate forum at Montview Presbyterian Church on May 28, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old attorney and democratic socialist, will win the Democratic primary for U.S. House in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, the Associated Press projected, triumphing over longtime incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette and notching another win for the left wing of the Democratic Party over established incumbents.
Kiros’ projected win is a stunning victory for a political newcomer and yet another apparent sign of Democratic voter discontent with incumbents, just a week after three insurgent candidates triumphed against incumbent or incumbent-backed candidates in New York City congressional races.
The primary challenger, who was fired from her law firm in 2023 after writing an open letter criticizing her employers’ response to pro-Palestinian protests, campaigned on channeling voters’ anger with the political system; her campaign also tapped into the strength of local and national branches of the Democratic Socialists of America.
DeGette, who has served in the House for around three decades, had argued that her experience, including in leadership roles during President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings, made her effective at pushing back against the Trump administration.
Kiros will face Republican nominee Christie Peterson, an accountant, who was uncontested in the GOP primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat, which is based around Denver, as solidly Democratic.
Another victory for progressive wing in gubernatorial primary
The Associated Press also projected on Tuesday night that Attorney General Phil Weiser will win the Democratic primary for governor in Colorado, triumphing against Sen. Michael Bennet.
The results could potentially be seen as another sign of Democratic voters’ dissatisfaction with Washington and incumbents in Congress, even though the race was technically for a state position.
Weiser, who served in the Obama administration and as Colorado’s attorney general since 2019, had positioned himself as the insurgent in the race against Bennet, linking the longtime senator to Washington and gridlock in Congress. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is term-limited.
But there was better news for another congressman from Colorado. The Associated Press projected Tuesday night that incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper will win the Democratic primary for Senate in Colorado, putting him on a glide path back to Congress as he runs for a second term.
Hickenlooper triumphed over a primary challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, who ran a progressive campaign and notched the endorsement of left-leaning organizations.
Inside the Melat-DeGette race
Still, most of the attention was focused on the 1st Congressional District.
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Kiros told ABC News she hoped to build on the movement’s momentum from last Tuesday in New York.
“Ultimately, folks are really tired of the party failing to meaningfully represent the values and policies that are extremely popular with our base,” she said. “And we’re looking for leaders that are unbought and unafraid to stand up to a lot of these corporations and special interests that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.”
Kiros has also been outspoken about criticism of Israel and its conduct in Gaza, another issue that has divided Democrats and played a major role in the New York primaries. She recently faced some pushback for not calling the June 2025 firebombing in Boulder, Colorado, of on a group of demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages antisemitic, although she condemned the violence and said she is committed to combatting antisemitism.
Kiros told ABC News on Monday that the attack was “a horrific attack on a group of Jewish people that were just engaging in peaceful protest,” and said that she is committed to combatting hate in all forms, including antisemitism; that responsibility also includes “making sure that we are rejecting this conflation of the state of Israel’s actions with Judaism and with the Jewish people, and making sure that we are preventing that kind of conflation from leading to the kind of horrific attacks that a lot of Jewish people are afraid of.”
While Kiros netted the endorsement of progressive stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, and some left-leaning groups, the race did not break down evenly along ideological fault lines.
DeGette is a leading member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who has led Democratic messaging on abortion rights and served as a House impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Unlike some incumbent Democrats facing primaries, she has criticized Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and voted against additional U.S. military aid to Israel.
“Denver knows I don’t back down. That’s why I’m taking on Donald Trump to protect our reproductive freedom, abolish ICE, and pass Medicare for All. Together we’ll win and deliver on our progressive values,” DeGette said in a statement to ABC News before the primary.
In a recent interview with ABC affiliate KMGH-TV, DeGette argued that her time in Congress was an asset to her constituents.
But that long record also made her a target for frustrated progressives, who sense momentum after democratic socialists Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez defeated establishment-backed Democrats in two New York City primaries — including the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — last week, with the help of democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“They see Melat as someone who has put up a fight — not just against Republican fascism, but also against the Democratic establishment that has failed voters,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, told ABC News.
The group helped Kiros and her allies knock on tens of thousands of doors and make more than 200,000 calls to potential voters since last week, according to the Justice Democrats.
DeGette’s record “is very progressive, and she’s not a moderate,” Doug Friednash, an attorney who was chief of staff to Hickenlooper, told ABC News. “A lot of young voters are demanding change … they look at rising health care costs, gas prices, and there’s a view that the establishment hasn’t done enough.”
Elsewhere, in Colorado’s 8th District, a battleground seat currently held by a Republican, Democrat Manny Rutinel, a 31-year-old state representative, was projected by the Associated Press to win the primary for the Democratic nomination against former state lawmaker Shannon Bird.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One on April 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. President Trump is traveling to Florida. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said Monday that a U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz has begun, a new development in the now seven-week war after peace talks failed over the weekend.
Taking questions from reporters outside the Oval Office, Trump was asked what he hoped to achieve from the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports: Is it to force Iran back to the negotiating table or to reopen the critical waterway and bring down oil prices?
“Maybe everything,” Trump responded. “Both of those things, certainly, and more.”
“We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing,” he continued. “They’re really blackmailing the world. We’re not going to let that happen.”
Earlier Monday, Trump threatened any Iranian ships that come close to the new U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, writing they will be “ELIMINATED.”
Trump said while Iran’s navy has been “obliterated” by U.S. attacks, any smaller ships that near the U.S. barricade will be wiped out “using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea.”
“It is quick and brutal,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform.
Iran has warned of consequences if the security of Iranian ports is threatened, with a spokesman for the country’s joint military command saying “no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.”
There are many outstanding questions about how the U.S. blockade will work and what impact it will have on the conflict.
Trump first said the U.S. would block “any and all Ships” trying to enter or leave the strait, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies typically passes.
U.S. Central Command, however, said the blockade will be enforced against any ships entering Iranian ports or coastal areas but clarified its forces “will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”
Abroad, some U.S. allies have said they won’t back Trump’s Hormuz blockade.
“We’re not supporting the blockade,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told BBC radio in an interview Monday morning.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France and the U.K. will instead organize a “peaceful multinational mission” aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait.
Trump on Monday was asked if he expected other countries to assist in the U.S. naval blockade.
“We don’t need other countries, frankly. But they’ve offered their services,” Trump said, though when asked Trump did not list any specific countries. “We’ll let it be known, probably tomorrow.”
At home, Trump faces potential political backlash over rising gas prices. Americans are now paying on average more than $4 for a gallon of gas, according to data from AAA.
Trump, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, conceded that energy prices may not fall by the November midterm elections, and that they could even be “maybe a little bit higher.”
The U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz comes after peace talks between the U.S. and Tehran in Islamabad on Saturday ended with no resolution. Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said the U.S. needed a firm commitment from Iran that it would not seek a nuclear weapon.
Trump on Monday echoed that the sticking point was the enrichment question.
“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “And we agreed to a lot of things, but they didn’t agree to that. And I think they will agree to it. I’m almost sure of it. In fact, I am sure of it. If they don’t agree, there’s no deal. There’ll never be a deal. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump on Monday said the “right people” in Iran still want to reach an agreement.
“We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal,” Trump said.
ABC News’ Zoe Magee and Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch speaks with ABC News Live anchor Linsey Davis on ‘All Access.’ (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch responded publicly to personal attacks by President Donald Trump in an interview with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, suggesting he is determined to remain “independent” and “fearless” in fulfilling his duty despite harsh criticism from the president who appointed him.
After Gorsuch voted with Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the court’s three liberals to invalidate Trump’s sweeping global tariffs in February, the president lashed out at his nominees Gorsuch and Barrett, calling them a “disgrace,” “disloyal,” “unpatriotic,” “fools and lapdogs,” and “an embarrassment to their families.”
Gorsuch told Davis the comments prompted him to reflect on the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.
“We want independent judges, people who are fearless and able to apply the law without respect to persons, as our judicial oath says, right? That’s why we’re giving life [tenure] to anybody, and it’s quite an honor,” Gorsuch said when asked for his reaction to Trump. “It’s a humbling privilege to be able to serve in this capacity, and I’m just one link in a long chain.”
Gorsuch, who rarely does media interviews, spoke with ABC News ahead of publication of a new children’s book, “Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence,” officially released Tuesday.
“We tell the story about the debate that led up to [the Declaration]. It almost didn’t go through,” the justice said of the nation’s founding charter, penned 250 years ago this year. “None of this is inevitable, and it isn’t inevitable that it will survive. America’s biggest enemy is itself. I believe we have to recommit every generation … if we’re going to carry those ideals forward.”
Even before he was confirmed in 2017, Gorsuch was forced to respond to extraordinary attacks on the federal judiciary by a sitting president, after Trump in his first term targeted judges who blocked controversial policies. Then-Judge Gorsuch described Trump’s behavior as “disheartening” and “demoralizing.”
Now, the conservative justice, 58, who will mark a decade on the high court bench next year, said he shares Roberts’ concern that a surge in personal attacks against judges is “dangerous,” even if intense criticism can be fair game.
“Part of the job of the judge is to accept criticism. Right? Everybody’s got a right to free speech,” Gorsuch said. “It’s a raucous thing in democracy, and that’s good. That’s great. And part of that is part of our story. Part of our story too, is realizing, again, that the person sitting across from you probably loves his country every bit as much as he did.”
Gorsuch said he was “heartbroken” by the recent attempted assassination of Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and that the episode appeared to be part of a broader deterioration of civility in politics.
“What keeps me up at night is disagreements that we have, and our sometimes incapacity to realize the humanity of the people we disagree with,” he said.
Gorsuch has publicly maintained a friendly personal relationship with senior liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, making several joint appearances in an effort to promote civics education and attempt to shore up faith in the Court as an institution.
“When I disagree with my colleagues … I never question that the person sitting across from me loves this country every bit as much as I do, that they love the Constitution and Declaration [of Independence], and that they’re doing their best.”
