House passes 10-day FISA extension after prospects of long-term deal collapse

The short-term patch was cleared via unanimous consent after opposition from many Democrats and GOP hardliners sank a 5-year proposal with reforms not satisfactory to privacy advocates.

The House early Friday passed a 10-day extension of a key U.S. surveillance program after broader reauthorization efforts collapsed amid GOP divisions over the bill’s final form, derailing the Trump administration’s push for a longer-term renewal.

The spying power, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, lets U.S. intelligence agencies warrantlessly compel communications providers to furnish messages of foreign targets abroad. In the process, agencies can also collect Americans’ communications if they are in contact with those targets. Privacy advocates have long pushed for a requirement that agencies like the FBI and NSA obtain a warrant before searching U.S. person data collected under the program.

The 10-day measure, passed via unanimous consent, would grant lawmakers some additional ...