Mike Johnson scrambles to strike FISA deal with privacy hawks

The federal Bureau of Prisons said Wednesday that an employee’s handling of a phone call from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was “unacceptable,” after the lawmaker said he was berated and hung up on while trying to check on the health of an inmate, who is the son of his constituent. Lee recounted the episode in […]

Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story Gen George's ouster looms large over Driscoll hearing Lawmakers from both sides questioned Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the Army’s acting chief of staff, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, over the removal of the Army’s well-respected chief of...

House members got their first opportunity Thursday to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days with back-to-back hearings in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees. In the two appearances, his first before Congress in 2026, Kennedy defended his record in leading the nation’s health agency as Democrats sought to...

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested on Thursday that he’s ready to oppose an extension of the government’s warrantless surveillance powers unless it contains new privacy guardrails. Jeffries stopped short of saying he’ll oppose a clean extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which GOP leaders in Congress and the...