House and Senate fail to pass short-term extension of FISA ahead of Friday's expiration deadline
The House and Senate on Thursday failed to pass last-minute, short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire on Friday.
The House failed to pass a three-week extension of the spy program in a 198-218 vote, well short of the two-thirds majority needed. Nineteen House Republicans voted against the bill. Seven House Democrats voted in favor of it.
In the Senate, three separate efforts to unanimously pass short-term extensions of FISA authorities also failed.
The House and Senate are expected to now leave town as it grows increasingly likely that FISA's legal authorization will lapse for the first time in the program's history.
Efforts on Capitol Hill to renew FISA stalled after President Donald Trump tapped Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence. Democrats in the House and Senate are opposed to Pulte, arguing the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency does not have any national intelligence experience.
Pulte is also known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president's perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney GeneralLetitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They've all denied wrongdoing.
The Department of Justice had at one point investigated whether Pulte and his team were interfering in ongoing investigations. Pulte has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
"Today, we just offered a simple, clean, three-week extension of the FISA national security law. The Democrats, 199 of them, voted against a clean, three-week extension for political purposes," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the failed vote. "And when the bill went down, they applauded it."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune led an effort to extend the program for one singular week until Pulte is installed to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month she was stepping down from the post.
"This is a program that saves American lives. And I have to ask the question: I can't for the life of me figure out why the Democrats continue to support policies that make this country less safe," Thune said.
House Minority Hakeem Jeffries called Thursday's vote a "show vote" from Republicans.
"Bill Pulte has no national security experience, no law enforcement experience and no military experience," Jeffries said. "So, it is highly irresponsible to try to elevate Bill Pulte, as we've made publicly clear repeatedly to Republicans and to the administration."
Speaker Johnson met with Trump twice this week to try to hammer out a FISA deal.
Trump on Wednesday repeated his praise for Pulte, who will take over as intelligence chief for Tulsi Gabbard following her resignation, despite the challenges his temporary appointment presented for FISA.
"He's going to do a good job," Trump told reporters. "He's going to be there for a very short period of time. He will be superseded and replaced by somebody that's going to have the job permanently."
Trump on Thursday afternoon, after the FISA votes failed on Capitol Hill, announced a new permanent pick for director of national intelligence: Jay Clayton.
