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President Donald Trump’s effort to expand the government’s controversial warrantless surveillance powers suffered a small setback Friday morning, when a group of conservative lawmakers rejected a compromise deal that would have extended the program for five years while including some small reforms aimed at appeasing GOP privacy advocates.
Shortly before 2 a.m. Friday, the House of Representatives approved a two-week extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), giving lawmakers until April 30 to reach an agreement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., expressed confidence his conference could reach an agreement by the end of the month.
“We were very close tonight. There are some nuances with the language and some questions that need to be answered and we will get it done. The extension gives us time to do that,” he said.
Johnson faces Gop revolt over warrantless surveillance powers ahead of key vote
President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The short-term FISA extension came together after House GOP leadership was forced to cancel an initial 18-month extension of the program due to opposition from conservatives who want to add more privacy guardrails to the program.
GOP privacy advocates also rejected a compromise deal that would have extended the surveillance law through 2031 while adding more stringent criminal penalties for violating FISA searches.
Section 702 authorization allows the government to spy on foreign citizens abroad, even if those communications involve Americans. Both conservatives and progressives have pushed for a requirement that would force officials to obtain warrants before reviewing Americans’ data.
House GOP leadership was racing this week to renew the surveillance legislation before the April 20 deadline. When his desired approach faced conservative opposition in the House, he agreed to a two-week extension.
The Senate could pass a short-term extension unanimously by Friday.
“What we’re trying to do is thread the needle on making sure that we have this essential tool to keep Americans safe as well as protect constitutional rights and make sure that the abuses of FISA that have happened in the past are no longer possible,” Johnson said Friday morning.
House Speaker Mike Johnson attends a news conference after the House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on January 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Assuming all members are present and voting, the Speaker can leave only two GOP defections during test votes. Although many Democrats were supportive of a clean FISA reauthorization bill, Johnson could not count on their support during procedural votes because they typically vote along party lines.
The Trump administration has argued that the spy authorization should be renewed to prevent potential terrorist attacks on the homeland and that it would be reckless to let the program expire amid the conflict with Iran.
“There’s a lot at stake,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News during a visit to Capitol Hill in an effort to sell GOP holdouts on the cleanup expansion.
Gen. Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a letter obtained by Fox News Digital to Capitol Hill offices, stating the importance of the surveillance tool to national security. Trump publicly urged Republicans to “unite” behind his desired vision of clean expansion on Truth Social.
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House GOP leadership and the Trump administration’s advocacy for reforms absent a clean FISA expansion proved a tough sell among some conservatives. Despite a high-profile pressure campaign, GOP privacy advocates remained adamant on including a warrant requirement, which they argued would better protect Americans’ data.
“We understand and agree with the President that we need 702 authorization to take action against bad actors abroad,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters. “We are fighting for more security, whether it is this administration or the future administration so that citizens can be ensured security.”
“For those who are saying we want these reforms within FISA, we mean what we say, and it’s not something we will ignore,” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said Thursday.
Boebert added, “We’re always being threatened … that something very bad is going to happen, that if we don’t reauthorize 702, people are going to die.” “But many men and women, thousands of people, have died for the Fourth Amendment, and I will continue to stand up and defend that Fourth Amendment right for all American citizens.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., speaks to reporters as she leaves the U.S. Capitol for the weekend on May 17, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Democrats also criticized the settlement agreement Friday morning as being drafted at the last minute and argued that the warrant requirement included in the rejected FISA settlement is effectively unworkable.
“It just says they can seek a warrant. They don’t have to do that. They can seek a warrant,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said, referring to the FBI. “In other words, this provision is meaningless. It returns us to where we were.”
Despite numerous GOP opposition, fewer Republicans opposed the apparent expansion of the 702 program than in previous legislative battles over spying legislation.
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Representative Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a FISA skeptic, supported outright reauthorization in 2024, citing more than five dozen reforms Congress has made to the program.
“2026 is not 2024 and a short-term clean extension of part 702 of the FISA statute is an acceptable outcome for the situation we find ourselves in,” Jordan said Tuesday.
House GOP leadership argued that failure to prevent reauthorization defaults is not an option for the FISA program.
“This is an essential tool for national security,” Johnson told Fox News on Wednesday. “We cannot allow this to end, and we will not.”
Fox News’ Kelly Fares contributed to this report.
