In defeat for Trump, House extends electronic spying program for just 10 days

Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:00 a.m. EST with details of a Senate vote on the legislation. 

The House early on Friday passed stopgap legislation to extend a warrantless government surveillance power for 10 days, following a failed lobbying campaign by the Trump administration.

The outcome is a defeat for President Donald Trump and House GOP leaders, who had pushed for a “clean” 18-month reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) despite well-known divisions among their fellow Republicans.

The program allows the intelligence community to collect the communications of foreign targets without a warrant. It also picks up the personal data of an unknown number of Americans. Revealed over a decade ago by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, the program was last renewed in 2024.

After days of talks with hardline conservatives over additional privacy protections and imposing some form of warrant requirement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) attempted to put a five-year extension with minor tweaks on the floor. The move was rejected and 20 Republicans blocked an 18-month extension in a separate vote.

Eventually, members approved the short-term renewal to allow more time for negotiations.

The legislation was approved by voice vote in the Senate late Friday morning. It now heads to the president's desk, days before the April 20 deadline to renew the spy power.

The White House and top congressional allies waged a last-minute lobbying effort ahead of passage. Trump made several social media posts imploring Republicans to “stick together” over the reauthorization.

"The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our military," Trump said in a post on Tuesday.

Privacy advocates in both parties considered the House debate as the best chance to get a warrant requirement added into the foreign wiretapping authority. Some also sought limits on the government's use of internet data brokers, who sell large volumes of personal information gleaned online. Critics argue the practice circumvents the Constitution.

The administration last month informed Congress that the nation’s intelligence court had renewed the surveillance program to operate for another year. The annual recertification means that NSA can continue to collect electronic communication through March 2027, even if lawmakers ultimately fail to reauthorize the statute.