Congress faces a midnight Friday deadline for Section 702, the key warrantless surveillance authority that expires this weekend. President Trump named Bill Pulte, a close ally with no national‑security background, as acting director of national intelligence, sparking bipartisan backlash and derailing a near‑final renewal deal.

The law underpins operations that have foiled terror plots, disrupted foreign hackers and supplied policymakers with intel on China and Russia. A bipartisan coalition had been close to a three‑year extension, but Senate leaders now consider only a brief, possibly three‑week, stopgap as privacy objections linger.

Republican leaders urged Trump to replace Pulte with a confirmed national‑security veteran, warning they lack votes without such a nominee. Speaker Mike Johnson called the standoff a “hostage” situation, while Trump posted that Pulte would serve for a short period, limited by law to 210 days as an acting official.

If Congress fails to pass any extension, Section 702 will terminate at midnight Friday, though a court‑certified safety net could keep the program running until its annual review in March 2027. The lapse would halt the NSA’s bulk collection of foreign communications, raising immediate operational concerns for agencies tracking threats.