House rejects last-minute extension for key FISA spy power amid Bill Pulte uproar

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. House votes against extending controversial wiretapping law set to lapse Friday

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/06/11/house-vote-fails-extend-controversial-wiretapping-law/

House votes against extending controversial wiretapping law set to lapse Friday

Lawmakers are deadlocked over Trump's pick for the nation's top intelligence post.

June 11, 2026 at 11:14 a.m. EDT18 minutes ago
5 min


Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who is President Donald Trump's pick to lead the intelligence community, speaks at the White House in January. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

By Noah Robertson and Mariana Alfaro

The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a last-minute attempt to extend a controversial warrantless-surveillance law, as Democrats continue to protest President Donald Trump's decision to temporarily place Bill Pulte, a mortgage agency director and MAGA loyalist, atop the U.S. intelligence community.

The vote failed 218-198, with 19 Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in opposing the bill. It would have required a two-thirds majority to advance under the parliamentary tool House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) used to quickly bring the legislation to the floor.

The result all but ensures that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a post-9/11 spy tool that both parties have argued is critical to U.S. national security, will lapse for the first time. ... The program is due to expire Friday at midnight, with lawmakers set to leave Washington on Thursday without a deal.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) blamed Senate Democrats for blocking FISA, saying the upper chamber should have advanced a House-passed bill to fully reauthorize FISA in April. Instead, the Senate approved a short-term measure that the House adopted and which expires Friday. ... The Senate had signaled that the House bill passed in April stood no chance of clearing the chamber's 60-vote threshold.

{snip}

By Noah Robertson
Noah Robertson joined the Washington Post in 2025, where he covers the core national security committees in Congress. He previously covered the Pentagon and American politics from gun control to policing. follow on X@noahjrobertson
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/noah-robertson/

By Mariana Alfaro
Mariana Alfaro is a reporter for The Washington Post's breaking political news team. She joined The Post in 2019. She can be reached via Signal at mariana_alfaro.10.follow on X@marianaa_alfaro
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/mariana-alfaro/