By Annie Grayer, Ellis Kim, Camila DeChalus

(CNN) — A cornerstone of US intelligence gathering used to thwart terror attacks is set to lapse after political divisions and President Donald Trump’s new spy chief upended negotiations.

The government’s key spy powers are again on the verge of expiration after Congress failed to approve another short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The powerful surveillance law allows US officials to monitor phone calls and text messages from foreign targets, but – controversially – it can also scoop up the data of Americans in the process.

That authority is now all but certain to expire given that House Republicans won’t stay in town to take any more votes. Asked why they’d leave Washington as scheduled, House Speaker Mike Johnson blasted Democrats, saying: “What more can I do?”

The deadline to renew the program has troubled US national security officials, who have had to scramble to blunt the potential for blind spots in intelligence collection each time Congress has failed to find a long-term solution.

The negotiations in Congress to renew the powerful surveillance law had been on thin ice for months, as Republicans on Capitol Hill have searched for a path forward to reauthorize the legislation. Most recently, lawmakers only secured a temporary 45-day patch – meaning that without action, the surveillance law will expire Friday at midnight.

But after Trump announced that Bill Pulte, who has no demonstrated national security experience, would serve as the acting director of national intelligence, support became untenable for Democrats.

Some internet activist groups like Demand Progress have argued that the surveillance law can still be enforced past the deadline because the courts previously extended the law. But carriers have warned that they cannot be expected to carry the liability of the law once it expires due to congressional inaction.

Here’s what to know about the program and talks on Capitol Hill:

Where do negotiations stand?

Movement on an extension stalled on Capitol Hill after Trump picked Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting DNI.

The two parties had been “on the cusp” of passing an extension until the appointment of Pulte, Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN.

Now, the fate of the program is in question with America’s 250th anniversary around the corner, the US war with Iran once again intensifying and political violence at an all time high.

GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who said he has used the program to save lives when he was FBI special agent, said an expected lapse “is really bad” and makes Americans “1000%” less safe.

“Two things are true. Bill Pulte should not be leading DNI and nobody should vote against FISA because of Bill Pulte,” Fitzpatrick told CNN.

But Trump in recent days appeared to double down on his decision to elevate Pulte, stunning intelligence staffers and lawmakers by announcing he would start his role as acting DNI on June 19.

Johnson, for his part, accused Democrats of holding critical votes hostage and suggested he would not call the House back to Washington during next week’s pre-scheduled recess to address FISA because any vote would be futile.

“I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores over the next few weeks,” the Republican leader said.

How does the government use FISA?

Under updates to the FISA law enacted in 2008, the government has the ability to compel US phone companies and internet providers to provide access to communications across the “backbone” of the internet. The government can also compel access to phone information that can allow it to obtain the content of calls and also require email providers and others to provide communications from a specific address.

And according to a September 2023 public oversight report by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board – which was formed to periodically assess the program – in addition to the above methods of collecting data, the board refers to an additional “highly sensitive technique” that was only authorized in 2022.

The trove of data, including a large portion of US internet traffic, is meant to provide US intelligence agencies with quick access to data regarding foreigners in other countries.

As CNN has reported, a good portion of what appears in the Presidential Daily Brief has some data that comes from the 702 program, according to the National Security Agency.

What’s at risk if it expires?

It depends who you ask.

Senior national security officials have for years said Section 702 is critical to thwarting terror attacks, stemming the flow of fentanyl into the US and stopping ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure.

The authority is now more critical than ever, officials say, amid the delicate ceasefire in the US war with Iran and a heightened threat environment at home and abroad.

Civil liberties groups on the left and the right, meanwhile, argue the surveillance authority risks infringing on Americans’ privacy. The program is currently warrantless, in large part because it is aimed at foreigners not Americans, but US citizens do get swept up in the surveillance when they are interacting with targets abroad.

The law has verged on expiration multiple times in recent months, and, at times, it has become embroiled in the broader Republican battle over the reach of the government’s surveillance powers.

Some Democrats who have previously supported the spy program expressed concern over renewing it under a Trump administration that they do not trust, making the margins Republicans have to rely on even smaller.

Ultimately, Trump’s refusal to pull Pulte’s appointment was enough to grind any Democratic support to a halt.

This headline and story has been updated with additional developments.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.