Hopes were fading on Wednesday for a breakthrough in Congress to salvage a warrantless surveillance law before its expiration this weekend, after President Trump dug in on naming a close ally who has alienated members of both parties to a top intelligence post.<\/p>\n
Unless lawmakers act by midnight on Friday, the law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act<\/a>, or FISA, will sunset. It is the legal underpinning for what is widely considered to be the most powerful surveillance tool the federal government has at its disposal, credited with generating intelligence that thwarts terror plots<\/a>, defangs foreign hackers, curtails drug trafficking and gleans key insights for policymakers about chief rivals like China and Russia.<\/p>\n Trump administration officials and some Republican lawmakers have warned that letting Section 702 lapse would risk grave security threats to the United States, especially as the war in Iran grinds on.<\/p>\n But while a bipartisan coalition had been close to a deal to extend it, Mr. Trump injected fresh chaos into the debate last week by naming Bill Pulte, a confidant without any national security experience, as acting director of national intelligence.<\/p>\n Even some Republicans expressed reservations, noting his lack of qualifications for the post. And days later, a bipartisan coalition blocked a renewal from moving forward in the Senate<\/a>, as even Democrats who had previously been working with Republicans to forge an agreement to renew the law said they would not vote to do so unless Mr. Trump withdrew Mr. Pulte as his pick.<\/p>\n Congressional leaders had already been struggling to find enough votes amid longstanding privacy objections to pass compromise legislation that would renew Section 702 for three years.<\/p>\n Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, conceded on Wednesday that there was now almost no chance of acting on such a bill before the law expired, and he was instead gauging support for a short-term extension, perhaps for three weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I think if we do, it\u2019s looking increasingly like it\u2019s going to be some sort of an extension,\u201d Mr. Thune told reporters at the Capitol.<\/p>\n But Congress has already punted on the issue twice this year, and another short-term reprieve looked less achievable, as some privacy advocates indicated they were unwilling to continue extending the law.<\/p>\n Republican congressional leaders have toiled in recent days to persuade the president to drop Mr. Pulte \u2014 or at least to name a permanent replacement for the top intelligence post who could be quickly confirmed \u2014 arguing that they could not muster the votes to renew Section 702 otherwise. Speaker Mike Johnson met with Mr. Trump at the White House both Tuesday and Wednesday, and Mr. Pulte attended the Tuesday session, according to people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to detail confidential discussions.<\/p>\n But while Mr. Johnson described Tuesday\u2019s meeting as \u201cvery productive,\u201d he did not indicate any progress had been made.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Democrats now have taken a hostage on this, and they\u2019re suggesting they might not advance it,\u201d Mr. Johnson said afterward. \u201cWe cannot allow FISA to go dark. It would be a dangerous prospect, and I think everybody who\u2019s reasonable understands that.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Thune said on Tuesday that he was encouraging the White House to nominate a permanent director of national intelligence to quell Democratic opposition.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting some certainty and closure on that issue about who that might be will certainly play an important role in unlocking the support we need to get FISA done,\u201d Mr. Thune said.<\/p>\n But instead of following Republicans\u2019 advice, Mr. Trump appears to have responded to the pushback by growing more resolute in his insistence on installing Mr. Pulte. On Tuesday evening, after his meeting with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Pulte, the president posted on social media that Mr. Pulte would assume the duties of his new job from Tulsi Gabbard, the current spy chief, on June 19 instead of the end of the month, which was to be her last day.<\/p>\n Then on Wednesday, he posted on social media that he was \u201clooking for a permanent ODNI Nominee with experience in National Security,\u201d but did not offer a name. He said Mr. Pulte would \u201cexecute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies,\u201d and pushed Congress to send him a short-term extension of Section 702 to allow time to select a permanent nominee.<\/p>\n He later told reporters Mr. Pulte would have the job \u201cfor a short while.\u201d Federal law generally allows an acting official to serve for up to 210 days.<\/p>\n The law has for years generated controversy and criticism from both conservatives and liberals over how intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, use the spying powers it authorizes. That is because Section 702, while aimed at scooping up private messages of foreigners abroad, also allows the collection \u2014 without a warrant \u2014 of an unknown volume of material from Americans, including when they communicate with overseas suspects.<\/p>\n Democratic aides said it was unlikely that Mr. Trump\u2019s latest post would move any votes before the Friday deadline. Democrats have said that allowing Mr. Pulte, whom they view as a Trump loyalist likely to do the president\u2019s bidding rather than provide unvarnished intelligence assessments, to serve at all in the intelligence role would be untenable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president said that Pulte would be around for a period of time,\u201d said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and a leading privacy advocate. \u201cThat, to me, is unacceptable because it\u2019s going to take us through the elections, and all kinds of things that he wants to do in terms of voting practices that really stomp on the rights of the states and communities like mine, that vote by mail.\u201d<\/p>\n Absent passage of an extension, Section 702 will legally terminate at midnight Friday heading into Saturday. The law, however, has a built-in safety net for a temporary lapse that allows the surveillance program to endure until annual certifications issued by the nation\u2019s intelligence court expire, though such a scenario could invite legal challenges. The court recertified the program in March, meaning the N.S.A. could continue to operate the program<\/a> through March 2027 even if the statute were to expire.<\/p>\n The law in question permits the government to collect \u2014 from U.S. companies like Google and AT&T, and without a warrant \u2014 the private messages of foreigners abroad, even when the targets are communicating with Americans. Congress enacted it in 2008, legalizing a form of a once-secret warrantless wiretapping program created by the Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But it added a \u201csunset\u201d provision that ensures the law periodically comes up for review and potential modification.<\/p>\n