{"id":112355,"date":"2026-06-13T13:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T13:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/112355\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T13:18:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T13:18:32","slug":"emboldened-senate-democrats-block-even-bipartisan-bills-in-hardball-approach-to-counter-trump-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/112355\/","title":{"rendered":"Emboldened Senate Democrats block even bipartisan bills in hardball approach to counter Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2013 Senate Democrats\u2019 decision to let a key surveillance authority<\/a> lapse comes as they are increasingly emboldened in their legislative fights against President Donald Trump<\/a>, blocking even traditionally bipartisan bills as they push back against his policies and personnel. <\/p>\n

The posture is an escalation from a year ago, when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was widely criticized<\/a> within his party for a spring vote with Republicans to keep the government open. Since then, Democrats have forced government shutdowns<\/a>, slowed Trump\u2019s nominations and now blocked the bipartisan intelligence law<\/a> as they seek leverage in a Republican-led Congress.<\/p>\n

The risky strategy has consequences when government programs go dark, and Democrats have little to show for it<\/a> so far in terms of policy victories. Republicans say it is a grave threat to national security to let the surveillance law, which aims to prevent terrorist attacks, expire just as millions of people are entering the United States for World Cup games and as celebrations for the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary get underway.<\/p>\n

But the hardball approach has helped unite Democrats inside and outside of the Capitol as they say they have no other choice \u2014 and that the blame should fall on Trump for how he is governing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t deny that this is dangerous,\u201d Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday about Democrats allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to expire starting Saturday. \u201cBut this didn\u2019t have to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 growing confidence also comes at a time when Republicans are often sparring with Trump, who has made clear he has little interest in compromise with lawmakers in either party. Democrats are blocking renewal of the law, known as FISA, in protest of Trump\u2019s appointment of federal housing regulator and loyalist Bill Pulte<\/a> to temporarily lead the nation\u2019s intelligence agencies. The choice also rankled Republicans, who said Pulte lacks the required experience for the job. <\/p>\n

Lawmakers in both parties urged Trump all week to pull the appointment, and on Thursday he nominated a permanent replacement<\/a> for the job just after lawmakers left Washington for the weekend. But the Senate confirmation process will take time, and Trump has not budged<\/a> on Pulte\u2019s appointment as an interim director. <\/p>\n

With no change, Democrats \u201care going to use every tool we have to fight back,\u201d said Schumer, D-N.Y.<\/p>\n

The standoff over FISA has won Senate Democrats some respect with base voters revolted a year ago. Schumer and the caucus have \u201cshifted to more of a fight posture,\u201d says Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who served as an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. <\/p>\n

Republicans say blocking FISA is a dangerous strategy<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Democrats have been playing \u201cfast and loose\u201d with national security for the past year. He pointed to the 43-day government shutdown last fall and a monthslong delay in funding for Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement operations. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow did we get to the point where one party has completely abdicated any responsibility for our nation\u2019s security?\u201d Thune asked. <\/p>\n

Democrats argue that Pulte, with little national security background, is a greater threat. They note that as a federal housing regulator, he has pushed for investigations of high-profile political figures whom Trump considers political foes. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a close call,\u201d Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. \u201cWe cannot extend these capabilities if the president is making clear that he\u2019s going to use them not to protect the nation, but to protect himself politically.\u201d <\/p>\n

Democrats fight for more leverage <\/p>\n

Strategist Payne says he believes Democrats have gained a bit of leverage since the shutdown in the fall.<\/p>\n

Democrats did not get the extension in health care subsidies they demanded because a small group of moderate Democrats voted with Republicans to end the impasse<\/a>. They did not achieve the changes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol that they sought when they delayed passage of funding for those agencies for months. But the White House did agree to negotiate<\/a>, even if those talks ultimately failed. <\/p>\n

Democrats also have grown more unified. While moderates ended the fall shutdown, the party stayed together in blocking the immigration funding and the surveillance authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve showed Republicans they are not going to fold,\u201d Payne said. <\/p>\n

Still, it may not be enough for some in the party base or to win Democrats a majority in November’s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Andrew O\u2019Neill, national advocacy director for the Democratic resistance group Indivisible, said he was concerned to see some Democrats praise Jay Clayton, Trump\u2019s permanent pick for the intelligence job. <\/p>\n

Republicans are rushing to confirm Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, before Tulsi Gabbard leaves the job and Pulte takes over as interim director on June 19. <\/p>\n

It is unclear, so far, if Democrats will support Clayton or allow Republicans to speed up the process and confirm him quickly. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill said he is glad Democrats blocked FISA over Pulte\u2019s appointment, but activists are wary. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a mixed bag,\u201d O\u2019Neill said of the past year. \u201cThe frustration is it took so long.\u201d <\/p>\n

Republicans navigate Democrats and Trump <\/p>\n

Caught in the middle are Senate Republicans, who had to spend months to fund border enforcement agencies and are now navigating the dispute over FISA, even after lawmakers reached a bipartisan compromise. <\/p>\n

Republicans are also trying to work with Trump, who derailed the intelligence legislation when he announced Pulte\u2019s appointment as senators were on the verge of passing that deal.<\/p>\n

Trump has weakened Republicans’ position \u2014 and his own support in the Senate \u2014 by backing primary challenges to incumbent senators. Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas<\/a> and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana<\/a> both lost in primaries to Trump-backed opponents last month and have joined Democrats in criticizing Pulte. <\/p>\n

Senate Democrats say hope their strategy gives them enough leverage to win more Republican allies. <\/p>\n

Being in the minority is \u201ca difficult dynamic for us,\u201d said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. \u201cBut I\u2019m seeing the Republicans start to move a little bit.\u201d <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2013 Senate Democrats\u2019 decision to let a key surveillance authority lapse comes as they are increasingly emboldened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[145],"tags":[57448,21363,51753,2694,10145,504,12,1065,55526,56600,57447,903,475,8355,19490,16126,1194],"class_list":["post-112355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chuck-schumer","tag-andrew-oneill","tag-bill-cassidy","tag-bill-pulte","tag-charles-schumer","tag-chris-murphy","tag-chuck-schumer","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-harry-reid","tag-jay-clayton","tag-joel-payne","tag-john-cornyn","tag-john-thune","tag-mark-warner","tag-peter-welch","tag-tulsi-gabbard","tag-washington-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116742999410991070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}