House faces likely defeat on FISA extension

The House is set to vote Thursday on a last-minute extension of a major U.S. surveillance authority, but Democratic opposition over President Donald Trump’s decision to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence has left the measure facing likely defeat.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is scheduled to expire Friday. The authority allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications of noncitizens outside the United States without a warrant, though it can also capture the communications of Americans who are in contact with targeted foreigners.

House Republicans plan to bring up a short-term extension that would keep Section 702 in place until July 2. Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has placed the bill on a fast-track procedure requiring a two-thirds majority to pass, a threshold lawmakers are not expected to reach without Democratic support.

“I certainly hope that everyone will do the right thing, put politics aside, for a short-term extension. We’re not asking for anything heroic here,” Johnson said Wednesday.

The fight escalated after Trump named Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a major Republican donor, to serve as acting director of national intelligence. In that role, Pulte would oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies. Democrats say his appointment derailed negotiations over a longer, three-year renewal of Section 702.

House Democratic leaders said Thursday they would oppose the temporary extension, citing Pulte’s lack of national security experience and his conduct at the housing agency, where CBS News reported he accused several of Trump’s political opponents of mortgage fraud.

“Bill Pulte has no relevant national security experience. Consequently, his appointment is in defiance of the law that requires the Director of National Intelligence to have ‘extensive’ national security experience,” said a statement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, his deputies and senior Democrats on the intelligence and judiciary committees. “The apparent motivation for his elevation is the demonstrated willingness of Bill Pulte to search government databases for alleged dirt on President Trump’s chosen political enemies.”

The Democrats added: “There is a path to reauthorizing Fisa, but it will require enacting meaningful reforms. We oppose this bill to kick the can further down the road.”

According to CBS News, Democratic leaders also said they “cannot in good conscience vote for reauthorization without significant reforms” to the statute.

The surveillance authority has divided lawmakers in both parties. Before Pulte’s appointment, negotiations in the House and Senate had already been slowed by concerns about warrantless surveillance and civil liberties. A Senate vote on an extension failed last week, with all Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania opposing it, along with seven Republicans who raised civil liberties concerns.

Trump on Wednesday asked Congress to approve a short-term extension to “provide time for the selection and confirmation” of a permanent intelligence chief. Johnson called that request a “good-faith gesture” to Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Tuesday that choosing a permanent nominee would “play an important role in unlocking the support that we need to get FISA done.”

Lawmakers also disagree over what would happen if Congress misses Friday’s deadline. Republican Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, warned that a lapse would be “uncharted territory.”

“Once this authorization expires, the clock starts ticking,” Crawford said during floor debate. “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.”

Crawford also warned that service providers could refuse to comply with government data requests if the law lapses.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said surveillance would continue under existing court authorizations.

“Government surveillance activities will continue unchanged” after Friday, Raskin said. “Everything that’s already been authorized and certified is already in motion, and current FISA authorizations will continue unaffected, at least through March 17, 2027.”

The Guardian reported that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issued a year-long certification authorizing Section 702 collection through approximately March 2027, and that the statute allows collection to continue under that order even if the law lapses. After the Senate vote failed last week, the Republican chairs of the Senate intelligence and judiciary committees asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare for a “potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection.”