Cybersecurity Policy Report, Senate Fails to Advance Surveillance Law Renewal as Clock Ticks Toward Deadline, (Jun 5, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Director of National Intelligence | Federal Housing Finance Agency
An attempt to advance legislation that would renew an expiring foreign surveillance law failed at 5:15 a.m. today in the Senate, with seven Republicans joining all but one Democrat in rejecting the move.
Faced with a June 12 deadline to renew section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) asked the Senate to proceed to consideration of the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act (S 1318), which would reauthorize section 702 for three years.
Sen. Thune’s request, coming after a long debate over a reconciliation bill that began yesterday and continued into the wee hours today, was rejected by a vote of 47-52. The House passed S 1318 in April by a vote of 235-191, but the politics of FISA section 702 continues to bedevil leaders in both chambers.
Section 702 empowers U.S. intelligence agencies, with the help of U.S. service providers, to monitor the communications of foreigners who are overseas and considered national security threats. However, Americans’ communications are often swept up in section 702 surveillance when they communicate with a foreign intelligence target, and those communications can be searched by federal authorities under certain circumstances without a warrant.
Bipartisan demands to add a warrant requirement to section 702 have complicated efforts to renew the law, leading Congress to adopt a short-term extension to provide more time for talks (CPR, May 1). The extension expires next Friday.
A new challenge for advocates of a “clean” reauthorization of section 702 is President Trump’s selection of Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to succeed Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence (DNI) after Ms. Gabbard steps down on June 30.
Mr. Pulte has no experience working in intelligence or national security, and Democrats note that his tenure at FHFA has been marked by efforts to target prominent Democrats for prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud. He hasn’t been formally nominated for the DNI post, which is a Senate-confirmed role, but President Trump has indicated he would become acting DNI after Ms. Gabbard leaves.
The prospects of Mr. Pulte overseeing the 18 federal agencies responsible for foreign intelligence collection and analysis will make renewal of FISA section 702 “much harder,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday.
“At a time when our nation is at war and our troops are in harm's way, we need someone serious to lead the intelligence community, not another unqualified, inexperienced partisan,” Sen. Schumer said.
“Bill Pulte’s appointment as acting Director of National Intelligence is a symptom of the larger problem,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) said in a statement today. “Warrantless FISA surveillance depends on a handful of government officials to choose not to misuse the most powerful spying apparatus the world has ever seen.”
“Republican leaders have failed three times this year to pass a long-term extension of warrantless FISA surveillance without a single new meaningful protection. Instead of trying a fourth time, they should put real surveillance reforms on the table,” Sen. Wyden said.
Jenna Ruddock, advocacy director for Free Press Action, expressed concern that Mr. Pulte would “weaponize” the powerful authorities of the U.S. intelligence community to go after Mr. Trump’s political opponents.
“This administration could not be more blatant about its intent to weaponize this surveillance apparatus to criminalize speech and other First Amendment-protected activities that challenge the Trump agenda,” Ms. Ruddock said. “Bill Pulte’s appointment as acting director of national intelligence is only the latest evidence of this intent.”
“No administration should have unchecked spying powers. But given this threatening and unconstitutional scenario, the case for reforming Section 702 has never been more urgent. Members of Congress must not extend a warrantless-surveillance authority for this administration to wield with no meaningful restraints or oversight. It’s time to pass popular, bipartisan reforms that are already on the table,” she added.
Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, echoed concerns about Mr. Pulte’s potential role in intelligence-gathering.
“President Trump’s installation of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence shows that Trump wants absolute power to surveil Americans and misuse FISA against his political enemies.” Mr. Laperruque said. “We can’t stop that by meekly hoping Trump’s next appointees are less dangerous. Strong safeguards like a warrant rule are the only way to prevent abuse.”
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