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As expected, an extension of FISA Section 702 – a surveillance law recently supported by President Donald Trump – failed on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.
This comes after President Trump surprisingly called for the extension of Section 702 in April. The statute is part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; Section 702 authorizes “targeted intelligence collection of specific types of foreign intelligence information – such as information concerning international terrorism or the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction – identified by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence,” per RSBN.
President Trump’s support for reauthorizing FISA 702 was surprising, as the president strongly criticized it in the past, urging Congress to “KILL FISA” in 2024, noting that “IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS.”
FISA 702 failed in a vote of 218-198, according to Politico, and would have extended the law only until July 2.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., confirmed that the reauthorization of the FISA program had failed on Thursday. “Thank goodness,” he said on X. “Clean reauthorization of the unconstitutional FISA 702 program failed in the House. I’ll post the roll call when it’s available.”
Before the vote this week, most Republicans unified to support the extension, but to no avail.
“Allowing FISA Section 702 to expire before the World Cup risks American lives,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. “Democrats need to come to their senses and support this vital national security tool.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., claimed on X that Democrats were “risking American lives if this program goes dark.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., upon Thursday’s vote, described the failure to renew FISA 702 as “shameful” and “very, very dangerous.”
He told reporters, “I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores over the next few weeks. We have done everything we possibly can; House Republicans are trying to govern, we’re trying to keep the American people safe.”
Johnson said that House Republicans did everything within their power to try to ensure that the statute did not expire, in light of the U.S. Senate’s inability to move extension legislation on the issue forward.
“The Democrats are using it as a political hostage,” Johnson said.
According to Politico, Democrats’ unified opposition to the extension may also be linked to furor over President Trump’s nomination of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to be the next director of National Intelligence.