US spy law to expire for first time after House rejects Trump ally's spy agency pick

The House of Representatives has failed to renew the U.S. government's warrantless surveillance law before it expires on Friday, all but guaranteeing it'll lapse for the first time. Lawmakers voted 218-198 on the bill, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass; 19 Republican lawmakers voted against it.

The law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allows the government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant. But it also sweeps up data from Americans who talk to those foreigners, making it a privacy flashpoint.

The vote came as lawmakers protested President Donald Trump's appointment of a controversial ally to oversee U.S. intelligence agencies. That ally is Kash Patel, whom Trump tapped to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Patel is a former Trump administration official who has called for dismantling the FBI and has pushed conspiracy theories about the "deep state." His nomination has been deeply divisive, with critics saying he'd politicize intelligence.

According to Politico, the next vote is scheduled for June 23. That gives lawmakers 11 days to try again. If they fail, the law will stay dead — for the first time since it was enacted in 2008.

The White House had pushed hard for renewal, arguing the law is critical for national security. The intelligence community says Section 702 is used to track foreign spies, terrorists, and cyber attackers. But privacy advocates and civil liberties groups have long opposed it, saying it violates Americans' Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches.

Trump himself has been inconsistent on the issue. As president in 2018, he signed a six-year renewal of Section 702. But more recently, he has aligned with Patel and other allies who say the law is abused to spy on Americans. That mixed message may have influenced some Republican lawmakers to vote no.

The 19 Republicans who voted against the bill included members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative hardliners who often oppose surveillance powers. They were joined by most Democrats, who opposed the bill because it didn't include a warrant requirement for searching Americans' communications.

In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was "disappointed" by the outcome and vowed to bring the bill back for another vote.

But critics say the law has been abused. In 2021, the FBI admitted it had improperly searched the Section 702 database for information about Americans, including a member of Congress and a former presidential candidate. That scandal eroded trust in the program.

What happens next is uncertain. If the law expires, the government will lose its main tool for collecting foreign intelligence without a warrant. That could disrupt ongoing investigations and force agencies to rely on older, slower methods. But for privacy advocates, the lapse is a victory.

For now, the law is dead — at least until lawmakers try again. And with a controversial intelligence chief waiting in the wings, the fight over surveillance is far from over.