US House blocks extension of powerful surveillance law

The US House of Representatives on Thursday failed to pass a short-term extension of a powerful surveillance law amid controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s decision to install an inexperienced loyalist as the country’s top intelligence official.The measure failed in a 198-218 vote, after Democrats announced they would block the move to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) in protest of Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte, a major Republican donor, as acting director of national intelligence.The congressional deadlock ensures section 702 of Fisa, which was enacted in the wake of 9/11 and allows US intelligence agencies to intercept foreign communications without a court warrant, will lapse on Friday.Republican leaders in the House and Senate had been trying to forge a compromise on extending the law for three years with Democrats as well as members of their own party who have concerns about the law’s impact on civil liberties. But Democrats backed out of those talks after Trump named Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and heir to a home construction company fortune, to the top intelligence post.“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,” said top House Democrats including minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, his deputies and the ranking members on the intelligence and judiciary committees in a statement released ahead of the vote.“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.“There is a path to reauthorizing Fisa, but it will require enacting meaningful reforms. We oppose this bill to kick the can further down the road.”Republicans attempted to pass the extension using a fast-track process that required a two-thirds majority vote to succeed. They fell well short of success, with 19 members of their own party opposing the bill, in addition to most Democrats..Failure to reauthorize the spy tool does not mean the surveillance program itself will go dark. The Fisa court issued a year-long certification authorizing section 702 collection through approximately March 2027, and the statute contains a provision allowing collection to continue under that order even if the law lapses.A vote on extending Fisa for three years failed in the US Senate last week, with all Democrats except John Fetterman of Pennsylvania opposing the effort in protest of Pulte’s appointment. Seven conservative Republicans who had voiced civil liberties concerns with the bill also voted no.That prompted the Republican chairs of the Senate intelligence and judiciary committees to send a letter to Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, asking the administration to prepare for a “potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection”.