Updated April 17, 2026 at 11:14 AM EDT

Congress has voted to extend a controversial surveillance program until April 30.

The extension, which first passed overnight in the House, came after GOP leaders failed to secure a five-year renewal, as well as an 18-month renewal President Trump had demanded. Both votes tanked.

That left a stop-gap measure for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was set to expire Monday. The Senate approved the extension by a voice vote Friday morning.

The tool allows U.S. intelligence agencies to intercept the electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside of the United States.

Like past reauthorizations, FISA 702's renewal has sparked a protracted debate on Capitol Hill over if and how the tool should be modified.

Some of the nearly 350,000 targets whose communications are collected under FISA 702 authority are in touch with Americans, whose calls, texts and emails could end up in the trove of information available to the federal government for review.

For almost two decades, privacy-minded lawmakers from both parties have sought to reform the program to require specific court approval before federal law enforcement or intelligence agents are allowed to review an American's information.

The intelligence community has argued that would inhibit the efficacy of the tool and endanger national security.

The fight over those changes — responsible for weeks of turmoil in the House — ultimately resulted in limited modifications that failed to satisfy privacy hawks.

If lawmakers are unable to reach a compromise by April 30 and FISA 702 is allowed to lapse, intelligence collection could continue but would likely be subject to lawsuits from the technology and telecommunications communications who are compelled to provide the communications to the government.

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