Katie Britt blames Democrats over failed reauthorization of FISA: ‘Democrats played politics with people’s lives’

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June 19, 2026

(Screenshot / Senator Katie Britt Youtube)

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) believes that her colleagues on the other side of the aisle are putting American lives at risk by blocking the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Democrats had blocked the effort last week in response to President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as the new acting director of National Intelligence.

Section 702 of FISA allowed the National Security Agency and FBI to intercept electronic communications around the globe. This means the intelligence agencies can use the information to build a mosaic of terrorist activities and inform law enforcement to pre-empt attacks before they occur.

Britt discussed the issue Wednesday during an appearance with “America’s Newsroom” on Fox News.

“So, first off, let’s go back to the fact that the reason that FISA has expired is because of Democrats,” Britt said. “Democrats played politics with people’s lives. Here we have the World Cup, Dana, like across our nation, where we’re hosting all of these events, and people, and yet Democrats decided that they were going to play politics and shut down the eyes of our intelligence community. That is 100% on them.”

Democrats own the expiration of FISA Section 702—full stop. While America hosts World Cup games, Democrats decided to play politics and shut down the eyes of our intelligence community.

I strongly support @POTUS’s outstanding nominee Jay Clayton and will do what it takes to get… pic.twitter.com/Zb3fW80Mu8

— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) June 17, 2026

Trump later announced his nomination of Jay Clayton, the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, to the position.

“When it comes to what’s happening right now with regards to Jay Clayton, remember that Chuck Schumer wouldn’t even return a blue slip on Jay Clayton to be the US attorney there in New York, so he is actually serving in that role because he is court appointed,” Britt explained. “What President Trump is saying is, look, let’s stop playing politics, let’s get a good person in for US attorney, and then let’s move Jay Clayton forward.”

Britt thinks this issue is too important to continue with the usual partisan antics so often seen in Washington D.C.

“I know that the Senate has several processes it has to go through. I hope that will continue working through those, so that we can get President Trump, his Director of National Intelligence, as soon as possible,” she said. “But Democrats have got to stop playing politics, they’ve got to actually do the work of the American people. And what we’re hearing right here is them playing games once again.”