House approves bill to extend divisive US surveillance program, but path forward uncertain

WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House approved a three-year reauthorization of a divisive U.S. surveillance program ahead of its expiration on Friday, adding new oversight measures but stopping short of the warrant requirement that critics have demanded.

A large group of Democrats joined most Republicans in passing the bill by a 235-191 vote. The law's renewal still faces an uncertain path to passage, with a sign-off needed from the Senate and President Donald Trump.

While the Senate could eventually be amenable to oversight measures added by the House, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Wednesday that another short-term extension will likely be needed ahead of the Friday deadline. House leaders added separate legislation banning a central bank digital currency to win more votes, and Thune said that part of the bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate.

Still, the passage in the House was a breakthrough for Republican leaders after Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in the day secured the support of several Republican holdouts to advance the bill to a final vote. The chamber had been unable to pass a long-term extension since Republican leaders earlier this month staged a hectic late-night effort to extend the surveillance program, only to see multiple bills fail on the floor.

“Two-thirds of the president’s daily national security briefing comes from intelligence collected by that statute,” Johnson said about the program. “We cannot allow it to go dark.”

Warrants remain central to the fight

The debate centers on a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that allows the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze communications from foreign targets without a warrant. In doing so, the agencies can incidentally sweep up communications involving Americans who interact with foreign targets, an element of the program many lawmakers find unacceptable.

“The intel community always just comes in and says, ‘People will die if you do this,’” Republican Rep. Chip Roy said Tuesday, arguing in favor of a warrant requirement. “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.”

The House bill does not include the warrant requirement. Instead, it would impose new oversight measures, including a monthly civil liberties review of U.S. person queries by an official within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, with any violations referred to the Intelligence Community’s inspector general.

The bill would also create criminal penalties for officials who knowingly misuse the system or falsify compliance, order a government audit of targeting practices and require new procedures to expand congressional access to FISA court proceedings.

House Democrats took turns criticizing the extension on the floor ahead of Wednesday evening’s planned final vote. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, derided the measure as a “three-year blank check” that comes “without any meaningful guardrails.”

“Under this bill, FBI agents will still collect, search and review Americans' communications without any review from a judge,” said Raskin.

Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, spoke in favor of the extension, calling the program “without question, the most important foreign intelligence tool." Himes, who voted for the extension, said the bill makes guardrails on the program "marginally and modestly stronger.”

There are hurdles ahead in the Senate

Both chambers are expected to scramble Thursday to pass a short-term extension of the law ahead of the Friday deadline — even as they continue to negotiate the longer-term renewal.

Thune said Wednesday afternoon that the Senate would try to quickly pass a 45-day extension. But any one senator can hold that up, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has already indicated he won't go along. Wyden, who has long pushed to reform the law, will instead seek to pass a three-week extension with some additional provisions, according to his office.

Another obstacle in the Senate is that the House linked the surveillance renewal with the separate digital currency legislation — a proposal Thune has said would be “very, very hard to pass."

Senators from both parties said they were committed, though, to ensuring that the law doesn't expire.

“There is clear consensus in the Senate as to how important it is,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

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Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

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