The House failed to temporarily extend a warrantless spying tool Thursday, one day before its expiration.
With the tool set to expire Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson held a vote Thursday to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) section 702 until July 2. Democrats opposed even a short-term FISA extension over President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
Section 702 allows the government to collect and search American citizens’ data without a warrant if they were in contact with targeted noncitizens located outside of the U.S. It facilitates tracking foreign intelligence, cyber threats and terrorism, which often collect Americans’ data in the process.
House Democrats stated they would not vote for its extension unless Trump yanked his nomination of Pulte.
“Section 702 is a critical foreign intelligence authority, be we cannot in good conscience vote for reauthorization without significant reforms to protect both national security and the constitutional privacy rights of Americans,” the Democrats said in a statement. “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. 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.”
NEWS — HOUSE MINORITY LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES rules out a short-term FISA extension.
“If Donald Trump wants any shot at a short term extension, he needs to pull back on the Bill @pulte nomination.
“Bill Pulte is a disgraceful individual, he’s a partisan political hack, and…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 10, 2026
A procedural vote on extending Section 702 failed to advance in the Senate after seven Republicans joined Democrats to vote against it. These Republicans senators were Josh Hawley of Missouri, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rick Scott of Florida, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri.
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the motion.
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and House Freedom Caucus members have historically opposed or conditioned support on reforms. The House passed a 45-day extension of Section 702 in a 261 to 111 vote on April 30.
Massie and Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado introduced the “Surveillance Accountability Act” on April 23, which would require federal law enforcement to show probable cause before accessing Americans’ private digital data.
Trump called for the passage of FISA section 702 in an April 15 statement, though he spent years opposing the program until the lead up to the Iran war. Weeks before the U.S. entered the conflict on Feb. 28, administration officials arranged a meeting with lawmakers in early February to promote FISA programs without changes.
The president’s position changed after the 2024 election, when Trump called to “KILL FISA” because it was used illegally to spy on his campaign. A Department of Justice inspector general’s report found “significant inaccuracies” in the FBI applications for FISA warrants against a Trump campaign adviser, and the DOJ later conceded that two of the four orders were invalid.
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Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
