House Lets Warrantless Surveillance Law Expire

A core US foreign-intelligence authority expires today after a rare bipartisan House rejection, entangled with the fight over Trump’s intelligence-director picks. Direct national-security and civil-liberties stakes for American readers, and a new beat in a storyline the brief has tracked this week.

The Morning Brief Desk · Friday, June 12, 2026 · Updated June 18, 2026 · How the Brief is made

Sources: The Verge, The Intercept

The House voted 218-198 Thursday to reject a three-week extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The law allows U.S. agencies to collect communications of foreigners abroad without warrants. The authority lapses today.

Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, opposed the extension, citing objections to acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte. Privacy advocates argue the program collects Americans’ communications without warrants; intelligence officials call it a core counterterrorism tool.

But the lapse does not immediately end collection. Existing court certifications remain in effect, meaning current surveillance can continue for months. Congress could still pass a longer reauthorization.

Sources

The Verge
A warrantless wiretap law is about to expire — but surveillance networks aren’t actually ‘going dark’
The House voted 218-198 against a three-week extension of FISA Section 702, putting the warrantless foreign-surveillance authority on track to lapse Friday.
The Intercept
Hakeem Jeffries Finally Finds a Spine: Dem Leaders Rallied Against Extending Domestic Spy Law
Democratic leaders joined privacy advocates in opposing extension of the spy law amid objections to acting intelligence chief Bill Pulte.

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