Axios Hill Leaders

June 03, 2026
Happy Wednesday! Tonight's edition is 736 words, 3 minutes.
- ‼️ Playing chicken on FISA
- 👎 House rebukes Trump
💰 Situational awareness: Get ready for some Senate daytime drama when the vote-a-rama on the $69.5 billion ICE and Border Patrol package kicks off around midday Thursday.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune believes he has the votes to defeat Democratic amendments and send the package to the House.
- But senators in both parties are still waiting on final guidance from the parliamentarian on which amendments — including one that would codify President Trump's decision to eliminate his "anti-weaponization fund" — will require a simple majority and which will need 60 votes.
1 big thing: ‼️ Playing chicken on FISA
Senate Republicans are separating their outrage over Bill Pulte's appointment as acting director of national intelligence from their conviction that Section 702 of FISA needs to be renewed.
- But their House colleagues aren't hopping on board.
🕵️♀️ Why it matters: For the moment, the usual hostage-takers in Senate Majority Leader John Thune's GOP conference are not taking a hostage. Policy is trumping personnel.
- "I support FISA reauthorization. I do not support Pulte," said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
- "He's just not qualified," Tillis said. "He's probably going to make reauthorization more problematic just by being out there."
- "I don't think the two issues should be related," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told us.
👎 Driving the news: With FISA expiring on June 12, Republicans will likely need at least eight Senate Democrats — and Democrats are clearly open to tanking FISA to pressure Trump to pull Pulte.
- "I have yet to talk to a Republican who doesn't think this is an outrageous choice," Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told reporters. "I am keeping all the options on the table."
- "We cannot even entertain the idea of renewing FISA while President Trump is installing his unqualified loyalist as the acting Director of National Intelligence," Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said.
⚠️ Thune cautioned Democrats against threatening the emerging Section 702 deal over Pulte.
- "I just think it's a really risky strategy on their part," Thune told reporters.
- "Obviously, I get their frustration, but at the end of the day, we have to function here. We've got to keep the country safe."
🌋 Zoom out: Anger and disbelief over Pulte leading ODNI is also erupting in the House, where lawmakers typically don't have the option of scuttling presidential appointments over policy differences.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is flexing his power on a vote that's expected to require some Democrats to pass the House.
- "FISA was already on life support in terms of Democratic support, and the decision to put a deeply unserious, dangerous and unqualified person like Bill Pulte into a position as the acting director of national intelligence is about to cause the plug to be pulled," Jeffries told reporters.
😨 Between the lines: Opposition from both House conservatives and Democrats leaves Speaker Mike Johnson with few options as lawmakers race to prevent a lapse in surveillance authorities.
- Johnson doesn't seem to have the votes to move the measure under suspension, which would require support from two-thirds of the House.
- And members are already warning about passing another short-term extension. "We grow weary of these short-term extensions," Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said.
- Higgins and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) both told us the rule vote to move the bill to the House floor could be in trouble, with Higgins saying he's "probably" a no.
The bottom line: Concessions made to appease House conservatives in the Senate's FISA bill haven't gone far enough to win their support, members told us.
- "Some [senators] haven't been receptive to House ideas," Davidson told us. "It's abundantly clear in the public eye there's a disconnect between the House and Senate on this."
— Hans Nichols and Kate Santaliz
2. House rebukes Trump
Four of Speaker Johnson's House Republicans joined Democrats this afternoon in voting for a War Powers resolution on Iran.
Why it matters: It may be symbolic, but it's Congress' first successful rebuke of Trump's Iran war effort after multiple failed attempts.
- Democrats' most recent attempt failed last month in a stunning 212-212 tie vote.
- This time around, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the one Democrat who has consistently voted against Iran war powers resolutions, flipped and voted yes.
- Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) voted in support of the measure.
The bottom line: The measure would still need to pass the GOP-controlled Senate — and even then, Trump could just veto it.
— Kate Santaliz
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