The Daily Brief — June 11, 2026
Trump names new DNI, FISA extension fails, accused in Minnesota killings pleads guilty
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Trump Names New DNI
President Trump on Thursday nominated Jay Clayton to serve as director of national intelligence, following bipartisan criticism of his decision to install federal housing chief Bill Pulte as acting DNI. Trump urged the Senate to confirm Clayton “as soon as possible.” The role oversees all US intelligence agencies.
Clayton is the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.
Trump named Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard earlier this month. The move drew bipartisan opposition in both the House and the Senate, due to Pulte’s lack of national security or intelligence experience. It remains unclear whether Pulte will continue as acting DNI until Clayton is confirmed by the Senate.
Iran Strikes
Military action between the US and Iran continued overnight as President Trump threatened to seize Iran’s main oil export hub.
Writing on social media this morning after last night’s US strikes, Trump said that the US would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and would take “Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets.” Kharg Island handles about 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. But he later announced that he had canceled “the scheduled strikes and bombings,” citing progress in peace negotiations with Iran through mediators.
US Central Command said it hit Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communications systems, and air defense sites.
Iranian officials said US strikes also damaged civilian infrastructure, including two water reservoirs. A New York Times investigation found that US strikes early yesterday near the Strait of Hormuz destroyed what appeared to be a drinking-water facility serving more than 20,000 people. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a potential war crime under international law.
After the US strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched missiles at US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain. It then declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed to all vessels” and said any ship attempting to cross would be targeted. The IRGC navy said it had already struck two vessels that tried to transit the waterway.
FISA Extension Fails
The House rejected a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this morning, putting the warrantless surveillance authority on track to expire tomorrow unless Congress acts.
Section 702 lets US intelligence agencies collect electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside the country without a warrant. Americans’ data can also be collected when they exchange messages, calls, or emails with one of those foreign targets. American telecom providers can be compelled to share those communications with intelligence agencies under the law. That information is put into a database that the FBI can search without a warrant, using an American’s name, phone number, or email.
Intelligence officials say Section 702 is important for national security purposes like thwarting terrorist attacks.
Several lawmakers from both the parties have expressed concern over lack of safeguards to protect Americans’ data.
The House is scheduled to recess today until June 23, and the Senate is out next week. While the warrantless surveillance can continue through March next year — because of a surveillance court’s authorization — some communications carriers that had been forced to share data with intelligence agencies under FISA have warned the Trump administration they will cease collecting data when the law expires.
Boelter Pleads Guilty
Vance Boelter pleaded guilty this morning in federal court in Minneapolis to killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and wounding a state senator and his wife.
Prosecutors said Boelter posed as a police officer and drove a fake squad car when he carried out the June 14, 2025, attacks. Authorities recovered a notebook hit list with nearly 70 names — most or all Democratic elected officials, along with abortion-rights advocates and abortion providers.
Boelter shot Sen. John Hoffman nine times and Hoffman’s wife, Yvette, eight times. Both survived. The Hortmans and their golden retriever were killed.
Boelter, 58, admitted to murder, stalking, and firearms offenses after federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. The plea agreement calls for two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years.
Boelter still faces state charges, including two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count each of felony cruelty to an animal and impersonating an officer.
Newsbreak
Journey through centuries and across continents with the first cookbook from Max Miller, creator of the viral digital YouTube series Tasting History. In the series, Miller recreates a dish from the past, often using historical recipes from vintage texts, but updated for modern kitchens as he tells stories behind the cuisine and culture. This book collects the best-loved recipes from around the world and includes historical artwork and beautiful photographs portraying the dishes throughout.
Migrant Deportations
The Trump administration is preparing to deport nearly two dozen migrants to the Central African Republic, including at least two Iranian women who fled Iran, and others reportedly from Afghanistan and Syria. Lawyers for some of the migrants say they have court orders barring deportation to their home countries because they could face persecution or torture.
The Central African Republic has seen a protracted civil war between armed Muslim and Christian groups vying to control territories and resources. Civilians also face abuses by government and allied forces. Violence in the country is so severe that the US State Department advises Americans not to travel there “for any reason.”
The Trump administration has sought agreements with third countries willing to accept deportees who cannot legally be returned to their home nations.
ICE Facility “Wasted” Millions
A federal watchdog report has found that the nation’s largest ICE detention facility — Camp East Montana in Texas — wasted millions of dollars on unnecessary services and also endangered detainee health and safety.
The report, released earlier this week by the Government Accountability Office, examined operations at the 5,000-bed detention center on the grounds of the Army’s Fort Bliss base near El Paso. The GAO found the federal government spent up to $11.5 million on services for the facility in its first two weeks of operation in August 2025, when there were no detainees there.
Three detainees have died at the facility since it opened. The El Paso County medical examiner ruled the January death of one detainee a homicide by asphyxiation, and the case is under criminal investigation. Another detainee died by suicide that same month, the GAO report said. In December, a detainee died of kidney failure after being hospitalized for two weeks.
DHS said it has since upgraded operations and strengthened oversight.