House Fails to Pass Short-Term FISA Extension as Pulte Fight Drags On

The House failed on Thursday to pass a short-term extension of a major spy powers program, leaving Congress with no clear plan to keep the authority from going dark on Friday.

The bill to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, failed 198-218, short of the two-thirds majority needed under suspension of the rules. The vote was a direct setback for President Donald Trump, who asked Congress to pass a temporary extension on Wednesday, after his appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence helped derail a longer reauthorization.

House Speaker Mike Johnson put the measure on the floor after returning to the White House on Wednesday to discuss the bill. It would have extended FISA Section 702 through July 2, giving Trump more time to name a permanent intelligence chief.

Johnson blasted Democrats after the vote failed, calling the result “very, very dangerous.” He said he spoke with Trump less than an hour before the vote and Johnson said the president is “very close to a decision” on a permanent director of national intelligence.

Asked whether he would bring the House back to vote on FISA again, Johnson suggested there was little point after Thursday’s failed vote.

“What would be the point of me going through this exercise over and over?” Johnson said.

But Democrats said Trump’s request did not solve the problem.

Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is still set to take over as acting DNI on June 19.

Many Senate Democrats left Wednesday’s closed-door lunch saying there was no deal on a short-term extension unless Pulte was removed from the acting role.

Top Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence committees said that their support for a short-term extension depended on Aaron Lukas, the deputy director of national intelligence, serving as acting DNI during the extension instead of Pulte.

“There is a simple way out of this conundrum,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut). “The president can follow the law and allow the principal deputy DNI, a Senate-confirmed appointee of the president, to assume the role of acting DNI until a suitable nominee can be confirmed by the Senate. That is all that needs to happen, and none of us needs to swallow what has just happened.”

“If he is the acting director during this short term, that’s within the law, and I could be supportive,” Sen. John Warner (D-Virginia) said.

The fight over Pulte collided with long-running opposition to Section 702 from privacy hawks in both parties, who have pushed for warrant requirements and other limits before renewing the program. Congress had already passed one short-term extension this spring, and the Senate failed last week to move forward on a longer reauthorization.

The program allows U.S. agencies to collect foreign intelligence from targets overseas, but critics say it gives the government access to Americans’ communications without a warrant.

It was not immediately clear whether leaders would try another vote before Friday’s deadline.

This story was updated to include Speaker Mike Johnson’s comments.