Last week, I wrote about Sen. Mark Warner’s ingenious power move to pressure Donald Trump to ditch his dangerously unqualified acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte.
Warner reportedly made it clear to Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune that needed Democratic support for reauthorizing FISA Section 702 was in doubt with Pulte in charge of the country’s 18 intelligence agencies. Since Warner is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he has been crucial in building the Democratic votes necessary for the extension of the FISA section.
In other words, Warner pressured Thune to pressure the White House to get rid of Pulte.
Less than a week later, the strategy seems to be working.
The Daily Beast has reported that Trump is already looking to replace Pulte, specifically because he “is viewed on Capitol Hill as a roadblock to reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” which will expire on Friday without bipartisan support.
Thune said Monday “that the administration needs to find a permanent replacement for Pulte ‘that will be viewed by at least enough Democrats as sufficient to get their support’ for reauthorizing the surveillance law,” TDB reported. Even Trump Puppet Mike Johnson, who last week whined about the Democratic pressure, “is expected to speak to Trump about Pulte” according to TDB. Johnson now says House members will not go home without reauthorizing FISA. They are currently supposed to leave on Thursday.
As for Trump, he has “seemingly distanced himself from Pulte,” according to The Daily Beast. “Asked in the Oval Office about the backlash over his choice of Pulte, Trump reiterated that the housing scion is only there ‘in an acting position.’” TDB noted.
It’s quite possible Warner did Thune and the Republicans a favor, maybe even in concert with them. By making Pulte acting director, Trump had skirted what would have been, at best, a bruising and contention confirmation process. So, by playing the bad guy, Warner gave them an excuse to turn around and pressure Trump to actually nominate someone else.
Regardless, it was a boss move by Warner and the Democrats.
Keep it up, guys!