WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to extend a controversial U.S. surveillance program for three more years, passing the measure 235-191 despite ongoing concerns about privacy protections.
The legislation received support from most Republicans and a significant number of Democrats, though its future remains unclear as it heads to the Senate. The program is set to expire Friday, creating pressure for quick action.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Wednesday evening that the upper chamber likely won’t fast-track the House version, suggesting a temporary extension may be needed to meet the Friday deadline.
The House vote marked a victory for Republican leadership after Speaker Mike Johnson worked throughout the day to win over GOP holdouts who had previously blocked the legislation. Earlier attempts this month to renew the surveillance authority had failed on the House floor.
“Two-thirds of the president’s daily national security briefing comes from intelligence collected by that statute,” Johnson stated regarding the program. “We cannot allow it to go dark.”
The controversy revolves around a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that permits intelligence agencies including the CIA, NSA, and FBI to gather and examine communications from foreign subjects without obtaining warrants. During this process, the agencies sometimes inadvertently collect communications involving Americans who communicate with foreign targets, which many legislators find problematic.
“The intel community always just comes in and says, ‘People will die if you do this,’” stated Republican Representative Chip Roy on Tuesday while advocating for warrant requirements. “Well, I’m sorry. A lot of Americans died to give us and protect that Fourth Amendment right that we don’t have government looking at our stuff.”
Rather than including warrant requirements, the House measure establishes new oversight mechanisms. These include monthly civil liberties reviews of searches involving U.S. citizens by an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, with any violations being reported to the Intelligence Community’s inspector general.
The legislation would also establish criminal penalties for officials who deliberately abuse the system or falsify compliance records, mandate a government audit of targeting procedures, and require new protocols to give Congress greater access to FISA court proceedings.
House Democrats voiced strong opposition to the extension during floor debate before Wednesday’s vote. Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, criticized the measure as a “three-year blank check” that arrives “without any meaningful guardrails.”
“Under this bill, FBI agents will still collect, search and review Americans’ communications without any review from a judge,” Raskin argued.
Representative Jim Himes, the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, defended the extension, describing the program as “without question, the most important foreign intelligence tool.” Himes, who supported the extension, said the legislation makes protective measures “marginally and modestly stronger.”
While Thune reported staying in communication with Johnson throughout the process, the bill’s next steps remain unclear even if it passes the House.
“We’re probably going to end up doing a short term,” Thune informed reporters following the House vote.
One complication involves House Republicans connecting the surveillance renewal with separate legislation that would prohibit a central bank digital currency — a proposal Thune described as “very, very hard to pass” in the Senate.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who has long pushed for FISA reforms, called the House agreement “deeply flawed,” though he wouldn’t specify whether he would back an extension.
Thune suggested Wednesday that another temporary extension might be necessary while lawmakers work out final details. He indicated a 60-day extension “could be a landing spot.”
