One of the government’s most powerful surveillance tools will go dark this weekend, and lawmakers aren’t sure what that means for the nation’s intelligence-gathering authorities. Democrats rejected attempts in the House and Senate to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in an act of defiance against President Donald Trump, who tapped housing chief Bill Pulte to temporarily oversee the nation’s intelligence services. But there are differing trains of thought on the ramifications of failing to renew the program.Some lawmakers argued that an extension was not necessary given that FISA courts had authorized continued intelligence gathering until March 2027. SPY PROGRAM CREDITED WITH STOPPING TAYLOR SWIFT TERROR PLOT BARRELS TOWARD EXPIRATIONPresident Donald Trump signs a proclamation about the fishing industry as Del.
Kimberlyn King-Hinds, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listen in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on June 11, 2026.(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)Others say that it opens up the possibility for telecommunications and major tech companies like Google to decline handing over information without explicit direction from Congress."We don't know the answer to that," Sen.
Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said."But it is, obviously, a high-risk proposition." Boiled down, the Section 702 program allows the U.S.
government to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S.communication systems, and it serves as a major part of Trump’s daily intelligence briefing. But it also sweeps up communications from Americans who are talking to foreign suspects — a key issue that threatened reauthorization among privacy hawks in both parties well before Pulte’s appointment.CONSERVATIVE FISA REVOLT POSES FRESH TEST FOR SPEAKER JOHNSON"That is a gray area, and it's one of the things that we're going to have to work through," Ho...