By admin 
The government’s key spy powers are again on the verge of expiration after Congress failed to approve another short-term extension of a powerful surveillance law.
Read more Multiple Pentagon floors locked down, evacuated due to ‘hazardous materials incident’
The law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allows US officials to monitor phone calls and text messages from foreign targets, but – controversially – it can also scoop up the data of Americans in the process.
That authority is now all but certain to expire given that House Republicans won’t stay in town to take any more votes. Asked why they’d leave Washington as scheduled, House Speaker Mike Johnson blasted Democrats, saying: “What more can I do?”
The deadline to renew the program has troubled US national security officials, who have had to scramble to blunt the potential for blind spots in intelligence collection each time Congress has failed to find a long-term solution.
For months, Republicans on Capitol Hill have searched for a path forward to reauthorize the legislation, and most recently, only secured a temporary 45-day patch – meaning that without action, the surveillance law will expire Friday at midnight.
Here’s what to know about the program and talks on Capitol Hill:
Where do negotiations stand?
Movement on an extension stalled on Capitol Hill after Trump’s elevated Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting director of national intelligence.
The two parties had been “on the cusp” of passing an extension until the appointment of Pulte, who has no national security experience, Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN.
But Trump in recent days appeared to double down on his decision, stunning intelligence staffers and lawmakers by announcing Pulte would start his role as acting DNI on June 19.
Johnson, for his part, accused Democrats of holding critical votes hostage and suggested he would not call the House back to Washington during next week’s pre-scheduled recess to address FISA because any vote would be futile.
“I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores over the next few weeks,” the Republican leader said.
How does the government use FISA?
Under updates to the FISA law enacted in 2008, the government has the ability to compel US phone companies and internet providers to provide access to communications across the “backbone” of the internet. The government can also compel access to phone information that can allow it to obtain the content of calls and also require email providers and others to provide communications from a specific address.
Read more For better or worse, young people are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support
And according to a September 2023 by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board – which was formed to periodically assess the program – in addition to the above methods of collecting data, the board refers to an additional “highly sensitive technique” that was only authorized in 2022.
The trove of data, including a large portion of US internet traffic, is meant to provide US intelligence agencies with quick access to data regarding foreigners in other countries.
As CNN has reported, a good portion of what appears in the Presidential Daily Brief has some data that comes from the 702 program, according to the National Security Agency.
What’s at risk if it expires?
It depends who you ask.
Senior national security officials have for years said Section 702 is critical to thwarting terror attacks, stemming the flow of fentanyl into the US and stopping ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure.
The authority is now more critical than ever, officials say, amid the delicate ceasefire in the US war with Iran and a heightened threat environment at home and abroad.
Civil liberties groups on the left and the right, meanwhile, argue the surveillance authority risks infringing on Americans’ privacy. The program is currently warrantless, in large part because it is aimed at foreigners not Americans, but US citizens do get swept up in the surveillance when they are interacting with targets abroad.
The law has verged on expiration multiple times in recent months, and, at times, it has become embroiled in the broader Republican battle over the reach of the government’s surveillance powers.
Some Democrats who have previously supported the spy program expressed concern over renewing it under a Trump administration that they do not trust, making the margins Republicans have to rely on even smaller.
Ultimately, Trump’s refusal to pull Pulte’s appointment was enough to grind any Democratic support to a halt.
Read more Why a frustrated Trump is turning again to bombs to force Iran’s hand
This headline and story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Zachary Wolf contributed to this report.