The Senate unanimously passed a 10-day extension of the federal government’s power to surveil individuals suspected of being national security threats without debate on Friday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) brought the measure to the floor during a brief session. The 10-day extension of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act gives GOP leadership some breathing room to reach an agreement with conservative hardliners in the House over the program, which was set to lapse on April 20.
The measure now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, where it is expected to be signed ahead of the April 20 deadline.
Speaking on the Senate floor ahead of passage, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that Democrats would not object to the stopgap. Wyden said House lawmakers have told him “unequivocally” that passing the short-term extension makes reform “more likely and expiration makes reform less likely.”
The Senate’s quick passage of the 10-day patch was starkly different than the House’s rare overnight session, during which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was dealt two consecutive blows. First, several GOP members voted to sink a late-night deal that would have allowed it to continue until 2031. Then, hardliners tanked an effort to bring up another bill for a “clean” 18-month extension.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who was one of the no votes on the latter, told the Washington Examiner that the two-week extension was the “best we could do.”
“I just hope we don’t wait till the last minute,” Burchett said. “We’re up here, but that’s just what we always do, we always wait until the last dadgum minute.”
The framework for the five-year extension was released late Thursday night after an hourslong meeting Johnson held with several GOP members, including House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD), Rules Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Reps. Keith Self (R-TX), Eric Burlison (R-MO), and Jim Jordan (R-OH), among others.
The double failure on the House floor comes after Johnson has had to repeatedly delay a vote to extend the FISA authority amid GOP opposition.
GOP holdouts, which include members of the House Freedom Caucus, have been vocal in their opposition to extending the program, which allows warrantless wiretapping of noncitizens overseas, without reforms that build on the 2024 changes.
Privacy hawks have been demanding reforms to the program and add-ons in exchange for their support on any extension of Section 702. That included adding a warrant requirement, restrictions on search queries, and enhanced penalties for privacy violations.
But there was also a GOP push to include a ban on central bank digital currency, which did not appear in the final framework.
House passes short-term extension of FISA spy authority after GOP rebels block five-year deal
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said while he voted for the rule, the five-year framework put on to the floor by House leadership was “sorely lacking.”
“It was five years, it didn’t get to the level of reforms we needed,” Roy told the Washington Examiner. “Some of us wanted CBDC on it. And, I mean, I voted for the rule because I said I was going to try to help in all this, but it was sorely lacking. We told them this yesterday, today, said, ‘Guys, just do a 30- or 60-day extension. Let’s do one. Get out here, right, and let’s go keep negotiating.’”