Congress Poised to Consider FISA Extension in April

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives announced in March 2026 their intention to bring a bill to the floor to extend, for 18 months, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's (FISA) Section 702 authorities. Consideration was later delayed and pushed into mid-April 2026. Without an extension, FISA's 702 authorities will expire on April 20, 2026.

A Closer Look at Section 702

Section 702 permits U.S. intelligence officials to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign persons located outside of the U.S. In order to protect Americans' Fourth Amendment rights, the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) are required to submit to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) certifications that identify the categories of foreign intelligence that the intelligence community (IC) can collect, together with a set of rules, known as "targeting procedures," designed to ensure the IC uses 702 only to target foreign persons. They also submit proposed "minimization procedures" designed to limit how agencies may access, use, retain and share collected information, as well as "querying procedures" that govern how agencies may search previously collected information. As part of the FISC's review, the court issues a written opinion that sets forth findings that the proposed certifications and procedures do not violate FISA's guardrails or the Fourth Amendment.

According to public information, 702 has been credited by the U.S. government with disrupting numerous recent terror attack plots, both domestic and overseas; helping to identify certain fentanyl precursors as originating in China; facilitating the cyber responses to ransomware attacks that targeted American companies; identifying Chinese-based hacks into U.S. transportation networks; and disrupting plans by foreign governments to engage in kidnappings, assassinations and espionage on U.S. soil.

Legislative History

The last extension of Section 702 passed U.S. Congress in 2024. That measure, known as the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA, P.L. 118-49), coupled a relatively short two-year 702 extension with 56 programmatic reforms. Both political parties divided on the 2024 bill, with 147 Democrats joining 126 Republicans to vote for RISAA, while 88 Republicans and 59 Democrats joined together to vote against the bill.

The vote on final passage was proceeded by a tie vote (212-212) on an amendment to require intelligence officials to obtain a warrant before running a U.S. person query to determine whether relevant materials had been collected. Proponents of the warrant amendment argued the bill's reforms were insufficient to prevent alleged misuse of 702. In 2025, however, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general studied the 2024 reforms and issued a report concluding the FBI had "implemented all RISAA-required querying reforms" and that the "number of noncompliant queries has been reduced substantially."

Key Stakeholders and Positions

President Donald Trump has recently called on Congress to pass a clean extension. After signing a six-year extension in 2018, President Trump stated: "In order to detect and prevent attacks before they happen, we must be able to intercept the communications of foreign targets who are reasonably believed to possess foreign intelligence information. Section 702 provides the necessary authority, and it has proven to be among the Nation's most effective … tools."

House Committee on the Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who voted for the warrant amendment and against RISAA in 2024, stated when asked if additional FISA reforms were necessary in 2026: "It's a whole different context today – 2026, not 2024. And you know, we got something like 56 reforms in the legislation last year, and they've made a huge difference. … I think it's a completely different framework," adding, "after the reforms that we put in place – I don't think it's a problem."

It is against this backdrop that Congress will consider another extension, where the path forward could be even more difficult and uncertain than it was in 2024. House Republicans now hold a 218-214 margin and have only two votes to spare in terms of bringing a rule to the floor to consider an 18-month extension.

Nearly a dozen House Republicans have stated they oppose a clean FISA extension. Some have made renewed demands for warrant language to be added to the bill. Others are making demands to attach unrelated legislation, such as The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act – the voter ID bill – to a FISA extension. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is going to need each of his members to support a rule to bring the bill to the floor in order to pass it. Adding other measures would likely sink the bill's chances in the U.S. Senate.

Complicating matters is the fact that Democrats are not eager to help Republicans solve what boils down to a math problem – garnering enough votes on a rule. In mid-March 2026, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) indicated that every House Democrat would vote against the rule, even though many might ultimately vote for the bill. Minority Leader Jeffries also said, "It was clear that FISA reforms are necessary." He voted for RISAA in 2024.

The House of Representatives Committee on Rules announced a meeting for Tuesday, April 14, 2026, to consider a rule that includes the text of legislation to extend FISA (H.R. 8035). Should the committee report a rule, it is not clear how House Republican leadership intends to muster the votes they need to adopt the rule. For now, Republican leadership appears to be relying on the president and key officials in the Trump Administration to sway wary House Republicans. Administration officials pressing for an extension include former House Judiciary Committee member and current CIA Director John Ratcliff, FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard had introduced legislation to repeal parts of FISA in 2020 when she was still a member of Congress.

Next Steps

Among the many critical issues on Capitol Hill – such as ending the appropriations stalemate for fiscal year (FY) 2026, beginning the budget process for FY 2027 and addressing conflict in the Middle East – enacting a FISA extension is on a growing list of challenges facing Congress this month.

For questions about the FISA Section 702 extension, please contact the authors or your Holland & Knight relationship attorney.

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