SCOOP: Sens. Tom Cotton and Chuck Grassley warn that FISA reauthorization may lapse right before the World Cup

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), the Chair of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are warning that Section VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) needs to be reauthorized ahead of its scheduled June 12 expiration, and that if Democrats fail to do so, security at the World Cup could be in jeopardy.

Cotton and Grassley wrote to Marco Rubio in his capacity as President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, noting that “Minority Leader Schumer is marching Democrat senators over a cliff — and taking FISA Title VII along with them.” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and other Democrats have been using the debate over FISA to push back on Trump’s selection of Bill Pulte to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

But those stunts, Cotton and Grassley warn, carry real consequences. “By walking away from our bipartisan compromise less than a week before the law expires, Senator Schumer has risked the lapse of this critical intelligence authority, especially since it appears that he won’t support another short-term FISA extension,” they warn.

Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force, already blamed Schumer for the partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier in the year, saying that security planners had been “planning with one hand tied behind our back” for months.

Making matters worse is that Cotton and Grassley have spent months working with Democrats to get to a point where FISA can be extended for the long term. “We have worked with our Democrat counterparts since April 30 to craft a bipartisan and bicameral proposal to reform and extend Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for three years,” they noted. The Reporter previously covered how Cotton’s leadership in particular has been lauded by everyone from the White House to the CIA.

Nevertheless, the lawmakers wrote that “earlier this week, we reached an agreement with our Democrat counterparts; we believe this compromise would’ve received nearly seventy votes in the Senate and had a promising path in the House of Representatives.”

Now, the Republicans believe that the Trump administration should plan for FISA’s expiration, and act accordingly. “We write with regret to ask that you plan for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection. In particular, we strongly urge you to convene a Principals Committee meeting as soon as possible and instruct the Intelligence Community to,” among other tasks, “identify all intelligence targets on which the United States may lose valuable intelligence information without FISA Title VII.” 

They also want the Trump administration to “determine alternative lawful and constitutional intelligence-collection methods by which the United States could continue collecting intelligence on these individuals.” A last resort they have is the “draft[ing of] a new Executive Order to remedy the gap left by the lapse of FISA Title VII in a lawful and constitutional manner.”

National security experts are livid at Schumer and Senate Democrats. One told the Reporter that “Chuck Schumer has either forgotten or doesn’t care that FISA lapsing could cause another 9/11. He’s a disgrace who is putting his personal political interests of avoiding a primary above the country.”

The Trump administration is already mobilizing police forces from across America to prepare for the World Cup. Agencies like DHS already awarded over a quarter of a billion dollars to host cities to combat unauthorized drones. The FBI also conducted drone mitigation training out of its Huntsville, Alabama facility to 60 police officers from 30 jurisdictions.

48 teams will be playing in World Cup games in 11 cities in America, in addition to another 26 games in Mexico and Canada. These record-setting numbers will pose a challenge with or without a FISA reauthorization. 

Currently, almost 500 law enforcement agencies are working with the Trump administration to plan for the festivities, which will last over a month.

While Cotton and Grassley are suggesting that FISA reauthorization may be doomed before the big games, another national security expert pointed to the locations of the games as a reason why Schumer and Senate Democrats may cave.

FIFA’s U.S.-based matches will be played at stadiums in or around the home states of Sens. Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.), Ed Markey (D., Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), Alex Padilla (D., Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), Patty Murray (D., Wash.), Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Andy Kim (D., N.J.), Rick Scott (R., Fla.), Ashley Moody (R., Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.), Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), John Cornyn (R., Texas), Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), and John Fetterman (R., Pa.). 

That combination of lawmakers, several of whom face tough 2026 elections or who harbor presidential ambitions of their own, could lead to a last-minute deal — or to major political ramifications.

Cotton and Grassley sent their letter to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel, and NSA Director Joshua Rudd, in addition to Rubio.