Congress punts FISA renewal to June

Congress on Thursday reauthorized a major foreign surveillance tool for several more weeks, mere hours before it was due to lapse.

The day after approving a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the House voted 261-111 to renew the program until June 21. 

The latest House action came after the Senate declared the previous bill dead on arrival because it included a ban on the Federal Reserve’s ability to issue a digital currency. 

Instead, the upper chamber approved a 45-day extension by unanimous consent after a deal was reached to declassify a recent Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion on 702 usage.

The FISA legislation now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it before the midnight deadline.

The vote ends what policymakers on both sides of the aisle considered a messy push to extend Section 702, which is intended to target foreign intelligence targets but sweeps up the information of an unknown number of Americans. 

The brief extension will give lawmakers until mid-June to work out a deal on a long-term reauthorization.

“This will allow additional time to do that,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said earlier on the chamber floor. 

The Senate has been working on its own three-year extension.