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Key surveillance tool could run out Friday as senators struggle to reach agreement to beat deadline
CNN
A critical intelligence community surveillance tool could lapse temporarily Friday unless senators reach an agreement to speed passage of a bill that would renew the program for two years.
A critical intelligence community surveillance tool could lapse temporarily Friday unless senators reach an agreement to speed passage of a bill that would renew the program for two years. That cooperation would be needed from Senate critics who have myriad of complaints about Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, notably that the government can get access without a warrant to data from foreigners including when they are interacting with Americans. Senate Republican Whip John Thune said if the Senate is going to meet its deadline, members of his conference will need to get, at a minimum, a vote on an amendment requiring warrants for any spying on Americans. A similar amendment narrowly failed in the House last week when the bill was passed there. “We are going to have people who will want amendments, and so that’s what it’s going to take. I assume they’ll want to have the same vote they had in the (House) on search warrants,” he said. “There is going to be a bit of a pile up, I think. But hopefully we’ll be able to transact FISA.” Without a time and amendment agreement, it could take the Senate until Sunday to process the bill, meaning a lapse in the programs would occur. One conservative senator with concerns over FISA was hopeful Democrats who control the chamber will cede to their demands and the bill will pass in time.
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she’ll propose reforms to the country’s constitution aiming to reinforce the nation’s sovereignty, after the US designated several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations – a move that could potentially lay the groundwork for direct US strikes inside Mexican territory.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth could soon move to fire more than half a dozen generals and flag officers, according to two sources familiar with the matter, part of an effort to purge the department of senior leaders perceived as either too political or too close to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.