America is staring down its most dangerous terror threat in history — and Democrats just made the feds’ job a whole lot harder.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dropped a jaw-dropper Sunday, telling Fox News host Shannon Bream that the terrorism threat level is “the highest it’s ever been” — even as Congress let a critical surveillance tool quietly die on the vine last week.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which lets the CIA, NSA, and FBI monitor foreign terror suspects overseas without a warrant, lapsed Friday after 19 Republicans and virtually every Democrat voted to kill a temporary extension. The Senate tried its own fixes, which also failed.
The timing couldn’t be worse.
“When I say we arrest terrorists every single week, I’m not exaggerating,” Mullin told Bream. “Those aren’t the individuals that are coming across our border. Those are individuals that are still inside this country.”
Inside the country — and now, with 702 gone, the feds have to wade through bureaucratic red tape to track them. What used to take hours may now take days.
That’s while 78 World Cup matches unfold across 11 American cities over 38 days — essentially 78 consecutive Super Bowls, as Mullin noted — alongside the America 250 anniversary celebrations happening nationwide. “Not all have the resources,” Mullin warned, noting that local law enforcement is already being asked to carry a heavier load.
So why did Democrats torpedo the extension? One reason was that they didn’t like who Trump tapped as Acting Director of National Intelligence. Bill Pulte — head of a federal housing agency — was appointed as a placeholder after Tulsi Gabbard stepped down to care for her husband, who has been diagnosed with a rare cancer. Democrats declared Pulte a “nonstarter” and let the spy authority expire as their countermove.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said flatly: “Pulte has to go.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused Trump of tossing “a hand grenade” into the negotiations.
Mullin wasn’t buying the outrage.
“When we really want to talk about the Democrats’ credibility on keeping America safe, come on, let’s laugh,” he fired back.
“They had zero credibility. They’re more interested in protecting criminals and illegals on our streets than law-abiding citizens,” Mullin added.
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have already warned the administration to brace for “a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection.” Trump has nominated Jay Clayton — former SEC chairman and current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — as permanent DNI head, but that confirmation fight is still to come.
Meanwhile, the terrorists that Mullin says the feds are arresting every week aren’t waiting around for Congress to get its act together.
Highest threat level ever. Biggest public events in a generation. And the Democrats just switched off the surveillance light.
Sleep tight.
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