Congress Passes 45-Day FISA Section 702 Short-Term Extension After Three-Year Reauthorization Stalls in Senate

The U.S. House passed a 45-day extension of FISA Section 702 by a vote of 261-111 on April 29, 2026, after the Senate rejected a House-passed three-year reauthorization (235-191) that included unrelated language banning the Federal Reserve from establishing a central bank digital currency. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said such a CBDC ban was “not happening” in tandem with FISA renewal. The Senate unanimously approved the 45-day extension the same day. Trump signed the extension before the April 30 sunset, buying lawmakers until mid-June to negotiate longer-term reauthorization.

The extension preserves the warrantless-surveillance authority underpinning FBI access to NSA-collected foreign-intelligence data — including the “sensitive query” function under Patel that the Bloomberg Government April 28 reporting identified as a Democratic bargaining chip with Patel’s removal. Under Patel, FBI sensitive queries (Section 702 searches targeting religious leaders, politicians, political candidates, or journalists) increased to more than 3x 2024 levels; the administration also dismantled the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). The 45-day window puts the next reauthorization fight in mid-June, just as the Patel-removal politics, the Comey indictment proceedings, and the Cole Allen prosecution are all unfolding. See also 2026-04-28–bloomberg-government-fire-patel-fisa-reauth-bargaining-chip.