Ken Martin, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), gave mixed signals on Wednesday when asked if he would release some version of the 2024 autopsy — the unreleased report on what went wrong for Democrats in the last presidential election.

That document, a 200-page analysis conducted from over 300 interviews in the wake of the 2024 election, never saw the light of day after Martin ordered its creation, much to the frustration of onlookers like Jon Favreau, host of the Pod Save America.

In a recent interview, Favreau pressed Martin on whether he would still consider releasing a summary of the findings.

“We’ve been releasing that, Jon. The reality is we’re not hiding the ball on this. We have been sharing those things out. There’s no smoking gun here,” Martin said.

OUTGOING DNC CHAIR SAYS DEMOCRATS SHOULD HAVE ‘STUCK BY’ BIDEN IN THE 2024 ELECTION

The moment between Favreau and Martin underscores concerns Democrats have grappled with for the better part of two years: that the party is struggling to be transparent about what it needs to change to find success in the future.

Democrats received a blow in November 2024 as Republicans stormed to power in a governing trifecta with control over the House of Representatives, Senate and White House. The loss has left Democrats struggling to find a national platform to rally around and are at odds over what mistakes the party should avoid repeating.

Shortly after becoming DNC chair in February 2025, Martin ordered an autopsy on the loss, but pulled the plug on releasing it, arguing that it would distract from the party’s overarching goals.

“We completed a comprehensive review of what happened in 2024 and are already putting our learnings into motion. And we’re winning again — even in places that haven’t gone blue in decades. In our conversations with stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem, we are aligned on what’s important, and that’s learning from the past and winning the future,” Martin said.

BIDEN TEAM, DEMOCRATS NEED TO ADMIT THEY WERE GASLIGHTING ABOUT PRESIDENT’S FITNESS: BOOK AUTHORS

“Here’s our North Star: does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission,” Martin added.

But months after that decision, Democrats like Favreau continue to express an appetite to review Martin’s findings.

Favreau pressed Martin on rumors that Martin had made pledges to release some version of the autopsy.

“NBC News said that before Easter about a month ago, you told DNC officers on a call to expect an executive summary in short order,” Favreau said. “I feel like an autopsy on what went wrong when we lost the popular vote in all those states in 2024 and figuring out what went wrong based on a big report is pretty important for everyone to know.”

“Jon, we’ve already been sharing that with a number of folks, including the DNC and other people,” Martin said.

Martin’s answer sparked skepticism online.

 “This interview will make your blood boil, and it’s a case study in how *not* to handle a self-inflicted crisis,” Michael LaRosa, a former spokesperson for Jill Biden, said in a post to X.

“The DNC Chair was right to show up. But the answers were tone-deaf, overly clever and ultimately unpersuasive. To donors and voters alike, it risks sounding disingenuous,” LaRosa continued.

DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: KEN MARTIN’S TENURE SO FAR AT DNC RIPPED

“Democrats are allergic to accountability,” Briahna Joy Gray, a former national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ failed 2020 presidential campaign, posted on X.

“See the mistake the DNC made is they could’ve released the report earlier in the spring, whatever’s in it, you get two weeks of bad publicity, then Trump does something stupid and everyone forgets,” Rotimi Adeoye, a former Democratic operative who is currently serving as a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, wrote on X. “Now it feels like something’s being hidden, which makes it way more salacious.”

President Donald Trump joked he would look “20 pounds heavier” in a bulletproof vest after being shot at, while acknowledging the protection works and insisting he does not think about future threats.

While speaking with reporters inside the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump was asked about potential security changes, including whether he would consider wearing a bulletproof vest following recent threats against him.

“I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds heavier,” he joked. “Some of these guys are physical specimens…No, well, if you want to gain 20 to 25 pounds.”

Trump then turned his attention to the Secret Service agent who was shot Saturday after an armed man charged through security at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.

TRUMP SAYS HE WON NEW FANS AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: ‘SOMETHING HAPPENED WHEN I GOT SHOT’

“Frankly, the vest did an amazing job because it took a bullet close up,” Trump said. “He didn’t even want to go to the hospital. I mean, we sent him to the hospital just in case…it’s still a hit, but he didn’t want to go to the hospital.”

“The vest totally protected him,” the president continued. “Still a lot of power behind that shot, though. That’s like getting hit by Mike Tyson.”

Trump said he has been asked about wearing a bulletproof vest, adding that it is something to consider. But he also said he does not like to consider wearing one because he would be giving in to a “bad element.”

FBI INVESTIGATES HUNTING STAND WITH SIGHT LINE TO TRUMP’S AIR FORCE ONE EXIT AREA AT PALM BEACH AIRPORT

The president was then asked whether he was nervous about another assassination attempt.

“I don’t think about it,” Trump said. “And if I did, I wouldn’t be doing a very good job here. I’d be thinking about nothing but that. I don’t think about it. I really don’t think about it. If I did, I wouldn’t be effective.”

SECURITY UNDER SCRUTINY AS WHCD ATTENDEES CITE INCONSISTENT SCREENING BEFORE SHOOTING

Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts in recent years, including incidents at public events that prompted heightened security concerns and increased scrutiny of Secret Service protocols.

In one recent case, a suspect was accused of charging toward Trump at a Washington, D.C., event before being stopped by agents, underscoring the ongoing risks surrounding the president’s public appearances.

Louisiana’s May congressional primaries have been suspended after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that struck down a majority Black congressional district.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill released a statement Thursday saying the “historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State.”

“The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map,” the officials wrote. 

“By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with [Wednesday’s] decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map.”

SUPREME COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WAGE REDISTRICTING WAR

Landry and Murrill said they are working with the state legislature and the secretary of state’s office to “develop a path forward.”

Early voting was scheduled to begin Saturday ahead of the May 16 primary.

MEDIA OUTRAGE OVER SUPREME COURT’S VOTING RIGHTS ACT DECISION COLLIDES WITH REALITY

“This is going to cause mass confusion among voters — Democrats, Republicans, White, Black, everybody,” Louisiana state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents the New Orleans area, told The Associated Press. “What they’re effectively doing is changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game. It’s rigging the system.”

There are four Republicans and two Democrats representing Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A change to the map could result in at least one additional Republican seat ahead of the November midterm elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent closed out Financial Literacy Month at the U.S. Department of the Treasury by hosting a literacy fair, welcoming over 50 students from the greater D.C. area on Thursday.

Bessent framed the event as a reminder of the bedrock of U.S. success.

“We live in the greatest country in the history of the world and on the eve of our 250th anniversary, understanding what has driven our success is the key to our future and what will lead the nation successfully for the next 250 years,” Bessent said in a statement about the event.

MOCK FUNERAL HELD FOR THE PENNY AT LINCOLN MEMORIAL AS 230-YEAR COIN PRODUCTION ENDS

Thursday’s programming included items like a game of “financial soccer,” a kind of fast-paced quiz on financial literacy, interactive booths, free resources and a tour of the Treasury Vault. The Treasury partnered with 18 organizations to conduct the event, including financial groups like Visa, Robinhood and Lincoln Financial.

The financial literacy fair is part of a larger initiative from the Treasury that began at the outset of April — one that Bessent said is closely tied to his understanding of how Americans can participate in the American dream.

BESSENT SAYS U.S. SEIZED NEARLY $500M IN IRANIAN CRYPTO AS OPERATION ECONOMIC FURY SENDS REGIME INTO ‘CRISIS’

“In my own life experiences, as an economic historian, and now as the 79th Treasury Secretary, it is my firm belief that financial literacy is what fuels the American Dream. Understanding how to make informed financial decisions unlocks opportunity for every American and their families,” Bessent said in a press release earlier this month.

This year, as part of the initiative, the department held events such as a roundtable with community bankers and a forum with the Association of Mature American Citizens.

BESSENT ‘OPTIMISTIC’ GAS CAN RETURN TO $3 PER GALLON THIS SUMMER.

U.S. financial literacy reporting by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that less than 30% of young people are financially literate and that as many as 74% of students say they need financial education.

April was first recognized as Financial Literacy Month by the U.S. Senate in 2004.

President Donald Trump has signed a bill to fully restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security, ending a record-setting 75-day lapse in funding for the critical agency tasked with protecting U.S. soil.

Trump signed the bill Thursday after the House of Representatives reached a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS. The House approved the Senate-passed spending measure by voice vote, covering most of the department’s appropriations through September.

Notably, however, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will remain unfunded under the current legislation.

While signing the legislation, Trump remarked, “(TRUMP QUOTE).”

HOUSE PASSES SENATE DHS FUNDING BILL AFTER JOHNSON REVERSES COURSE ON 75-DAY SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

The vote came after the Senate’s DHS funding bill had stalled in the lower chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to put the bill on the floor over objections to language he said defunded law enforcement. The speaker’s opposition reflected the views of many in the Republican conference, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate passed it unanimously in March.

Johnson changed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged swift passage of the upper chamber’s bill. 

With more than 200,000 personnel, DHS is one of the largest government agencies under the executive branch. In addition to ICE and CBP, several of the nation’s most critical government agencies fall under DHS, including Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and others.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SPLINTER OVER PESTICIDE PROVISION IN FARM BILL AS MAHA MOVEMENT FLEXES ITS MUSCLE

At roughly 75 days, the DHS funding lapse was the longest recorded partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

In an internal memo sent to Hill offices and obtained by Fox News Digital, the White House warned it would not be able to pay employees starting in May if the House did not pass the Senate’s partial DHS bill. The administration since early April had been using existing funds to cover six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees — but warned that money was quickly being depleted.

“If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers — including our brave Secret Service agents — and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security,” the memo states.

HOUSE PASSES FISA RENEWAL IN BIPARTISAN VOTE, PUTTING PRESSURE ON SENATE BEFORE LOOMING DEADLINE

Republicans are in the beginning stages of writing a separate party-line package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that legislation will not advance before lawmakers leave Washington for the upcoming recess period. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack and Krista Garvin and Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

Mark Sanford, the former Republican South Carolina governor and congressman, is abandoning his latest run to reclaim his former seat just a month after announcing his candidacy.

Instead, he will launch a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the national debt.

Sanford, 65, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he is shuttering his campaign to focus on combating the debt and deficit.

“After a lot of thought, I’ve concluded that the most effective way I can contribute right now is not by seeking office, but by helping build a broader movement focused on the country’s financial future,” he said in a news release. “The trajectory of debt and deficits isn’t a Republican problem or a Democrat problem—it’s an American problem. And it’s one that demands sustained grassroots pressure for change to occur.”

GOP DISRUPTOR COUNTERS BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN BAILOUTS WITH PLAN TO SHIFT COSTS AWAY FROM TAXPAYERS

The organization will operate as a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) and will focus on building a nationwide grassroots network aimed at shifting the country’s current financial course. Sanford noted that with his first grandchild on the way, he also realized he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The decision came one month after Sanford entered the primary on the final filing day to reclaim his former House seat.

Sanford previously served three terms in Congress before serving as Governor of South Carolina. However, his tenure was overshadowed by a 2009 scandal in which he disappeared to Argentina to visit a mistress; at the time, neither his staff nor his wife knew his whereabouts.

NO EVIDENCE CAWTHORN, STAFFER HAD IMPROPER RELATIONSHIP, ETHICS COMMITTEE FINDS

While Sanford survived impeachment attempts and resisted calls to resign, his wife, Jenny Sanford, moved out of the governor’s mansion, relocated to the family’s beachfront home with their four sons, and later sued for divorce.

Sanford eventually won back his old seat in a 2013 special election, defeating 15 other candidates. He served two full terms before losing his 2018 primary to a GOP challenger backed by then-President Donald Trump.

His former seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.

As of Tuesday, the national debt stands at more than $38.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. That includes more than $31.2 trillion in debt held by the public and over $7.6 trillion in intragovernmental holdings.

“Our nation’s crumbling financial course is what led me to enter this race, and it’s what’s animated my time in politics,” Sanford said. “I want to make a difference here, and as I began to get back into the world of politics, it really began to hit me how all of Washington’s major changes have come as a result of outside pressure.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth forcefully denied allegations that he or others may have profited from the war with Iran during a heated Senate exchange Thursday, telling Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that “no one owns me” as she pressed him on what she said was suspicious trading activity tied to the conflict.

Warren pointed to what she described as a pattern of large, well-timed oil trades occurring minutes before public announcements by President Donald Trump related to the war, suggesting the possibility that insiders were using nonpublic information to profit.

The exchange reflects growing scrutiny in Washington over whether sensitive information tied to the Iran conflict could be used for financial gain, as well as broader concerns about ethics rules governing senior officials and lawmakers.

“In just the space of minutes, it looks like insiders have been making out like bandits, using secret information about the war,” Warren said.

She pressed Hegseth repeatedly on whether he had any explanation for the activity “other than insider trading.”

Hegseth declined to engage directly with the premise, saying the department had operated “completely aboveboard” and emphasizing that his focus remained on military operations rather than financial markets. He added that safeguarding sensitive information is taken “very seriously.”

“What happens in markets … is not something we’re involved in,” Hegseth said.

The exchange escalated when Warren referenced reporting about Hegseth’s own financial dealings, including a claim that a broker attempted to invest in a defense-related fund ahead of the conflict.

“That entire story is false,” Hegseth responded. “Any insinuation that I have ever profited … I don’t do it for money. I don’t do it for profit. I don’t do it for stocks.”

He added: “No one owns me. No one owns this department, no one owns this president.”

Warren’s line of questioning follows recent reporting that raised questions about Hegseth’s financial dealings ahead of the Iran conflict. The Financial Times reported that a broker working on Hegseth’s behalf contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in a fund tied to major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, in the weeks before military action began.

According to the report, the investment ultimately did not take place because the fund was not available to the broker at the time.

The Pentagon has strongly denied the reporting, calling it “entirely false and fabricated,” and Hegseth reiterated that denial during Thursday’s hearing.

Federal law places strict limits on defense officials’ investments to prevent conflicts of interest. Presidential appointees at the Pentagon generally are barred from owning or buying stock in top defense contractors that receive the largest government contracts, with narrow exceptions such as diversified funds. Ethics rules also require senior officials to avoid even the appearance of self-dealing and to disclose or seek approval for certain financial activity.

Warren’s comments come amid a recent high-profile case involving a U.S. service member accused of profiting from nonpublic military information.

Federal prosecutors charged Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke with using classified intelligence about a covert operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to place bets on a prediction market, allegedly earning more than $400,000.

Authorities allege Van Dyke was involved in planning the operation and used that knowledge to wager on its outcome before it became public, prompting charges including wire fraud and unlawful use of government information.

Critics have pointed to a perceived double standard, noting that while a U.S. service member faces potential prison time for insider trading, enforcement of similar rules governing members of Congress historically has been less aggressive.

“This man is facing decades in prison,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Fox News’ Ingraham Angle Saturday. “Meanwhile, every single day on Capitol Hill, there are many members of Congress on both sides that are currently engaging in insider trading.”

Trump weighed in Saturday, comparing the case to baseball legend Pete Rose.

“That’s a little like Pete Rose,” Trump said when asked about the case. “Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame for betting on his own team. Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team. I’ll look into it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Warren and Hegseth for comment. 

Former President Barack Obama was lambasted for rebuking a new Supreme Court ruling against race-based redistricting in Louisiana, just days after cutting ads for a Virginia effort to transform that state’s map into a 10-1 Democratic advantage.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Louisiana’s 2024 mid-decade redistricting that produced a serpentine district represented by Rep. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge, calling it an “illegal” racial gerrymander, while Obama argued the decision weakened a Voting Rights Act provision prohibiting race-based discrimination.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities — so long as they do it under the guise of ‘partisanship’ rather than explicit ‘racial bias’,” Obama said.

“Unless it’s Virginia. In that case, it’s great to have a 10-1 gerrymander,” Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer replied in a post on X.

SPANBERGER FACES ‘BAIT-AND-SWITCH’ BACKLASH IN FINAL HOURS BEFORE REDISTRICTING REFERENDUM

Fleischer was joined by former North Carolina Congressman and ex-Trump aide Mark Meadows, who addressed Obama to say his rebuke was “beneath you.”

Former DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also weighed in, remarking that, to the former president, “disenfranchising millions of voters and forcing 45% of Virginians to be represented by one congressional district and 55% represented by 10 is now ‘standing up for Democracy.’

“Is that ‘equity’? What a farce.”

Obama went on to slam the current makeup of the Supreme Court and its conservative majority, saying its decision in the case is another example of “abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.”

Other critics noted Obama has been mum on his own home state’s gerrymandered map, which features several zigzagging districts connecting disparate neighborhoods and suburbs of Chicago, while other Democratic strongholds form serpentine districts around the interior of the state to connect cities like Champaign, Springfield and Moline with other Democratic areas.

Other critics noted how Democrats control every congressional district in New England, plus Hawaii, citing reported figures that all of those states have Republican populations between 32% and 48%, but none of those voters have like-minded representation in Washington.

The 44th president added that setbacks like that can be overcome, calling on Americans who respect “democratic ideals” to vote in record numbers to outweigh any electoral changes brought on by the court’s decision.

In his own reading of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Justice Samuel Alito said that when “correctly understood, [it] does not impose liability at odds with the Constitution, and it should not have imposed liability on Louisiana for its 2022 map.”

Just days earlier, Obama was front and center in the largely Democratic-led “Vote Yes” campaign in Virginia, where the commonwealth’s Democratic legislative majority and Gov. Abigail Spanberger backed a voter referendum to implement their own mid-decade redistricting that would favor their party for at least the next four years.

DEMOCRATS WIN VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING FIGHT, THREATENING REPUBLICAN HOUSE MAJORITY

The approved map would transform Virginia’s 6-5 Democratic congressional majority into a likely 10-1 split by redrawing rural districts to include Washington, D.C., suburbs or the Richmond-Petersburg metro area, which proponents like Obama said is needed to restore fairness on a national level.

“By voting yes, you have a chance to do something important, not just for the commonwealth but for our entire country. By voting yes, you can push back on the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms,” Obama said.

Obama claimed in a pro-Yes ad that supporters could “level the playing field.”

CARVILLE AND CO-HOST LAMENT THAT TRUMP SPARKED A REDISTRICTING WAR, MAKING BOTH PARTIES LOOK CYNICAL

While largely a Democratic concern, and as newly drawn districts in Louisiana and Alabama favored Democrats, Virginia’s “yes” campaign did have support from a handful of non-Democrats such as anti-Trump former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.

Like Louisiana’s map, Virginia’s plan has been subject to dueling litigation, including a recent move by a circuit judge in Tazewell County in the western mountains to place a hold on certification of the “Yes” vote, while the state Supreme Court considers a case over the referendum’s legislative process and legitimacy.

In a statement, Fields said Wednesday’s high court decision “dismantled” decades of settled law and was not a “neutral reading” of the Voting Rights Act.

“Today’s majority has resurrected exactly that standard — and the practical effect is to make it far harder for minority communities to challenge redistricting maps that dilute their political voice,” Fields said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama for comment on criticisms.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

President Trump accused Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., on Thursday of being “very disloyal” and playing “political games” over his opposition to the confirmation of the commander-in-chief’s second Surgeon General nominee.

The President concluded his remarks by urging voters to replace the Louisiana Republican. In a Truth Social post, Trump assailed Cassidy over the failure to secure D. Casey Means’ confirmation.

“For months, Senator Bill Cassidy (of the GREAT State of Louisiana!), a very disloyal person whose ‘TRUMP’ Endorsement got him elected, but later voted to impeach ‘President Trump’ on what has now proven to be a total Hoax and Scam, has stood in the way of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nominee, Casey Means, for the important position of U.S. Surgeon General,” Trump wrote.

He described Means as a “strong MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Warrior” who “will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important health issues facing our Country.”

TRUMP BLASTS GOP WAR POWERS DEFECTORS, SAYS THEY ‘SHOULD NEVER BE ELECTED TO OFFICE AGAIN’

Means’ brother, Calley Means, who serves as a White House advisor, also blamed Cassidy for the failed nomination.

“Bill Cassidy is a mindless avatar for his donors and a blind defender of the status quo system that is profiting from American sickness,” he wrote on X. “At every turn during Casey’s confirmation, Bill Cassidy worked to delay her and smear her. For several months last year, Bill Cassidy knew Casey’s due date. He demanded to schedule her hearing on her due date, and at the last minute scheduled it two days later.”

“He could have scheduled it weeks before,” he added. “Casey ended up having her baby the hour her first hearing was scheduled.”

TRUMP PRESSURES 4 GOP SENATORS AHEAD OF ANTI-CANADIAN TARIFF VOTE, ACCUSING THEM OF ‘TDS’

In a subsequent post, Trump announced the nomination of Dr. Nicole Saphier, a former Fox News Channel contributor. He called her “a STAR physician” who has spent her career guiding women through breast cancer diagnoses while “tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention for both men and women.”

Trump further urged voters to replace Cassidy, who faces primary challenges from Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming and Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La.

Means had previously appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which Cassidy chairs. During the proceeding, Cassidy raised concerns regarding her views on vaccinations.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Cassidy’s office for comment.

The Senate scrapped the House’s reauthorization of the nation’s controversial spying powers and is instead moving on a temporary extension to the program.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that the upper chamber would extend the divisive Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days as lawmakers continue to work on reforms to the program.

“We’ll kick it over there and process it quickly, and we’ll kick the can down the road again,” Thune said.

The maneuver comes after the House on Wednesday passed a three-year extension to the program with modest reforms that included a ban on central bank digital currencies — a priority of conservatives in the lower chamber.

But the inclusion of that provision was a nonstarter in the Senate, given that it was unrelated to the underlying bill and was already baked into a housing affordability package passed by the Senate in March that the House has yet to move on.