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Kerry Picket

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Kerry Picket

kpicket@washingtontimes.com

Kerry Picket is a White House correspondent for The Washington Times.
Picket covered the hill at other DC-based outlets including the Daily Caller and the Washington Examiner. Before that, she produced news for Robin Quivers of The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, wrote entertainment news for MTV Radio, and worked as a production assistant at MTV.com.
Picket is also a former radio guest host at SiriusXM Patriot 125 and appears frequently as a guest commentator on cable news programs and syndicated radio shows.
She can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Kerry Picket

NYPD officers from the Strategic Response Group form a wall of protection around Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kay Daughtry, not in the picture, during a press conference regarding the ongoing pro-Palestinians protest encampment at Columbia University in New York on Monday, April 22, 2024. U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

GOP senators urge Biden to mobilize National Guard to protect Jewish college students

Sens. Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton called on President Biden to mobilize the National Guard to protect Jewish American college students in response to anti-Israel, pro-terrorist demonstrations on campuses.

April 23, 2024

Marine One with President Joe Biden abroad flies over the Brooklyn Bridge as it arrives in New York, Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

New poll shows Trump trailing Biden in New York by 10 points

Former President Donald Trump trails President Biden in deep-blue New York by just 10 percentage points, according to a new poll.

April 22, 2024

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during a press availability on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington. President Joe Biden implored the top four leaders of Congress to act quickly to avoid a looming government shutdown early next month and to pass emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel, as a legislative logjam in the GOP-led House showed no signs of abating. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Senators want changes to House-passed aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan but bill on fast track

The Senate is expected to easily pass the House's $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan this week but not before several senators who oppose the bundle have their say.

April 22, 2024

President Joe Biden speaks before signing an executive order to improve government services, in the Oval Office of the White House, Dec. 13, 2021, in Washington. The intelligence community won a new expansion of snooping powers from Congress but opponents managed to cut the extension to just two years, meaning Capitol Hill will revisit the fight a lot sooner than the spy community had wanted. President Biden signed the expansion into law Saturday, capping off an intense six-month fight over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to scoop up communications of foreign targets and then search through them — including communications with Americans and others inside the U.S. — without getting a warrant.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Spies get green light to snoop, for now, as Biden signs FISA extension reaching into Americans’ data

The intelligence community won a new expansion of snooping powers from Congress but opponents managed to cut the extension to just two years, meaning Capitol Hill will revisit the fight a lot sooner than the spy community had wanted.

April 21, 2024

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a bilateral meeting with Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo at the Department of State in Washington, Friday April 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) ** FILE **

Senate clears key government surveillance tool shortly after midnight lapse

The Senate voted to reauthorize the government's chief surveillance tool early Saturday, clearing the measure for President Biden's signature with only a brief lapse of the spying power.

April 20, 2024

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference in Lviv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys)

Schumer, McConnell call for swift renewal of key spy law before deadline

The top Senate Democratic and GOP leaders called on lawmakers Friday to unite behind the government surveillance reauthorization bill before the legislation's key spying component expires at midnight.

April 19, 2024

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., pauses to speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Senate advances FISA’s powerful spy power tool that may lapse Friday

Senate lawmakers advanced legislation to reauthorize a critical government surveillance tool, but bipartisan opposition may prevent final passage in time to stop a lapse of the law at midnight Friday.

April 18, 2024

Members of the National Guard arrive to secure the area outside the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Whistleblowers accuse senior Army officials of lying about National Guard response on Jan. 6

National Guard whistleblowers accused Army brass of lying about why the National Guard was delayed in their deployment to the U.S. Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

April 17, 2024

An installation and maintenance technician uses a fusion splicer to install fiber optic cable that is being run to a home, in Concord, Vt., Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)

Senators balk at surveillance law expansion that could loop in cable providers

An obscure provision in legislation to reauthorize the government's chief spying tool has raised new alarms in the Senate as it scrambles to renew the authority by a Friday deadline.

April 16, 2024

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. The House was holding a key test vote Wednesday on whether to consider a bill that would reauthorize a crucial national security surveillance program, but the prospects were uncertain amid intense Republican opposition as well as an edict earlier in the day from former President Donald Trump to “kill" the measure. Johnson has called the program “critically important” but has struggled to find a path forward on the issue, which has been plagued by partisan bickering for years. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Johnson puts forth separate House measures on Ukraine and Israel this week

House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed on Monday night his proposal to pass four separate measures this week to send aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, risking his speakership if he advanced any funding legislation for Ukraine.

April 15, 2024

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 20, 2019. Turner says he has information about a serious national security threat and urges the administration to declassify the information so the U.S. and its allies can openly discuss how to respond. Turner, a Republican from Ohio, gave no details about the threat in his statement. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) **FILE**

House FISA legislation heads to Senate after failed last-ditch bid to stop it

A bill reauthorizing the government's chief spying tool is on its way to the Senate after House lawmakers on Monday swatted down a last-ditch bid to block it.

April 15, 2024

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., votes for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) **FILE**

GOP privacy hawks get another chance to torpedo FISA

A group of House Republicans will get another chance to sink the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's warrantless spying with a vote to reconsider the bill's passage.

April 15, 2024

Members of the National Guard patrol outside the Capitol Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Whistleblower testimony to shed light on National Guard’s delayed response to Jan. 6 riot at Capitol

House lawmakers this week will hear from whistleblowers who say they have information about why the National Guard's response to the Capitol riot was severely delayed.

April 15, 2024

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. The House was holding a key test vote Wednesday on whether to consider a bill that would reauthorize a crucial national security surveillance program, but the prospects were uncertain amid intense Republican opposition as well as an edict earlier in the day from former President Donald Trump to “kill" the measure. Johnson has called the program “critically important” but has struggled to find a path forward on the issue, which has been plagued by partisan bickering for years. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Speaker Mike Johnson explains his flip-flop on warrants for FISA spying on Americans

House Speaker Mike Johnson once wanted to add a warrant requirement to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before switching his position -- a switch this week that helped derail the renewal of the spying law.

April 11, 2024

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Washington. The House was holding a key test vote Wednesday on whether to consider a bill that would reauthorize a crucial national security surveillance program, but the prospects were uncertain amid intense Republican opposition as well as an edict earlier in the day from former President Donald Trump to “kill" the measure. Johnson has called the program “critically important” but has struggled to find a path forward on the issue, which has been plagued by partisan bickering for years. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

House derails vote to renew FISA after Trump trashes the bill

A bill to reauthorize the government's top power was blocked from reaching a floor vote on Wednesday by a group of Republicans who wanted more restrictions placed on the FBI.

April 10, 2024

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaker Johnson’s message to Trump: FISA overhaul would ‘kill the abuses’ of FBI, intel agencies

House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to tell former President Donald Trump why GOP leadership wants to reauthorize the government's chief spying tool.

April 10, 2024

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 20, 2019. Turner says he has information about a serious national security threat and urges the administration to declassify the information so the U.S. and its allies can openly discuss how to respond. Turner, a Republican from Ohio, gave no details about the threat in his statement. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) **FILE**

Fight over FISA heads to a House vote

Lawmakers on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees faced off over an overhaul of the government's top spying tool on Tuesday ahead of the House's expected vote on it this week.

April 9, 2024

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., from right, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., applaud during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for surviving members of a top-secret WWII unit, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker Johnson to vote against warrant requirement for FISA spying on Americans

House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to vote against requiring the government to get a warrant when using its power to spy on email, phone calls and texts, a lawmaker close to the speaker told The Washington Times.

April 9, 2024

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, questions Special Counsel Robert Hur during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

FISA fight heats up among Republicans as deadline looms

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, took a swipe at national security hawks over their insistence that the government's top spying tool be reauthorized without a warrant requirement.

April 8, 2024

Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, discusses President Joe Biden's policies at the Mexican border during a House GOP news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Rep. Van Duyne will run a full-page ad in The New York Post on Tuesday urging law enforcement officers that it's "time to escape New York and move to Texas." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Texas GOP lawmaker to run full-page ad in New York paper urging cops to move to the Lone Star state

Texas is busing illegal immigrants to New York City, but one of its lawmakers is calling for New York cops to pack their bags and move to the Lone Star state.

April 8, 2024