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A key U.S. surveillance program is on the brink of expiring after neither the House nor Senate could pass an extension because of a Democratic revolt over President Donald Trump’s intelligence chief pick.
The bid to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for three weeks in the House failed 198-218 on Thursday, falling well short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage. And in the Senate, Sen. Tom Cotton’s, R-Ark., attempt to advance an extension was thwarted by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
The measure, meant to give Congress more time to negotiate a long-term renewal, faced an uphill battle amid widespread Democratic opposition because of Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte to be the acting Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) chief.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., warned he would withhold support for extending the program until Trump reversed his decision, a sentiment shared by Senate Democrats, too.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put the bill on the floor via suspension of the rules, a fast-track procedure that requires a higher threshold to secure passage.
He indicated he would not keep the House in session before the spy law was scheduled to lapse Saturday at 12:01 a.m.
“I attempted to pass a short-term extension for three weeks. Clean extension, no changes to the law,” Johnson told reporters following the failed vote. And the Democrats … voted against it and applauded themselves as they left the building. What would be the point of me going through this exercise over and over?”
Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., Don Davis, D-N.C., Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Susie Lee, D-N.V., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., were the 7 Democrats to cross party lines and support extending the program through July 2.
Meanwhile, 19 Republicans, who were skeptical of a clean reauthorization of Section 702 without greater privacy guardrails, joined the majority of Democrats in voting down the measure.
In the Senate, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the upper chamber was on a glide path to advance the compromise bill that he and Cotton put together. But Trump’s decision obliterated any hope of Democratic support.
Warner wants Trump to dump Pulte, and instead tap DNI Deputy Aaron Lukas to be acting director until he finds a long-term nominee.
“There are about a half a dozen exit ramps for the White House on this problem,” Warner said. “And they have chosen not to take them.”
Thursday’s vote was a notable setback for Trump, who urged lawmakers to reauthorize the program ahead of the June 12 deadline with no modifications.
Democrats and some Republicans have argued that Pulte, a Trump insider and senior housing official, is unqualified for the top intelligence post.
Trump has largely defended and refused to bow to Democrats’ demands. His comments Wednesday that he is actively looking for a permanent replacement for Pulte, who is expected to begin the job June 19, were not enough to soften Democrats’ opposition.
The standoff over the critical surveillance tool has led to tensions erupting in the lower chamber with little time to act before the law’s expiration.
Jeffries called Pulte a “malignant clown” during a news conference earlier this week and pledged that House Democrats would probe his tenure at the Federal Housing Finance Agency if they retake power in November. As the agency’s director, Pulte launched investigations into several Trump foes over alleged mortgage fraud.
Meanwhile, Republicans have warned that letting the spy law sunset would leave the United States uniquely vulnerable amid an influx of foreigners into the country with the World Cup underway and as the war with Iran drags on. They argue that Democrats are putting the country at a grave security risk by failing to extend the program into July.
“45 countries descend upon the United States for World Cup games, which just so happens to be the week that Democrats have actively chosen to disallow this critical national security tool from being renewed to allow it to go dark,” House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said Wednesday. “This is unserious, very dangerous behavior on the part of congressional Democrats.”
“You cannot play politics with the security of the American people,” Johnson told reporters. “I am praying that they come to their senses.”
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The Section 702 program allows the U.S. government to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S. communication systems. The spy law also allows the government to sweep up the messages of Americans when communicating with foreign suspects, provoking the ire of privacy hawks in both parties.
The program is credited with thwarting a terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Austria in 2024, as well as gathering intelligence used to identify and eliminate a prominent Mexican cartel leader and providing information used to intercept shipments of fentanyl precursors from China.
Congress passed two consecutive short-term extensions of the law earlier this year, but has yet to strike a deal on a multi-year fix.
Some Democrats have argued Republicans’ warnings are political theater and have pointed to an intelligence court ruling that recertified Section 702 through March 2027.
“Existing law allows Section 702 collection to continue under an order from the FISA court for another year, even without congressional reauthorization,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday. “Congress can and must take the time to get this right.”
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But GOP lawmakers warned that allowing the government’s warrantless surveillance powers to sunset entails substantial risk, including potential legal challenges.
“If this authority lapses starting on Saturday, we move into uncharted territory,” Crawford said Wednesday. “The implications get worse every single day.”
“While the 702 database would remain available to search, the data in that database will become increasingly out of date, with the potential of provider noncompliance with orders, litigation by providers or outside groups, and even reticence by agency personnel to continue implementing an expired authority for fear of personal liability,” he added.
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