Trump Finds New Way to Kill Efforts to Renew Key Spy Bill
That legislative measure sparked nationwide controversy earlier this year, particularly over a detail in the bill that would have made it more difficult for married women to vote. The backlash on Capitol Hill was grave, so much so that it gummed up efforts to fund Homeland Security for several months. Republicans eventually had to bail on the package to end the congressional gridlock.
The SAVE America Act suggests numerous amendments to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, including line items that would abolish mail-in voting, require voters to bring proof of citizenship and proof of residency to register to vote, require voter ID, and mandate voter roll purges every 30 days—an enormous bureaucratic task that would place undue burdens on local election officials. The measure would also add a federal law to prevent men from competing in women’s sports, and a ban on “transgender mutilation surgery.”
Last week, Democrats logjammed conservative efforts to renew the FISA section in direct protest against the president’s temporary pick to run national intelligence, real estate developer Bill Pulte, who they argued had run afoul of the law by accepting the position. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence explicitly, legally requires its chiefs to have national security experience.