The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two critical pieces of legislation to fund the federal government and to extend a controversial spying program.
In a 215–211 vote, the House approved a bill to start the budget reconciliation process. The filibuster-proof process is being used by Republicans to advance funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other immigration enforcement agencies over Democratic opposition.
The measure now approved by both chambers begins the reconciliation process, ordering House and Senate committees to write legislation that would provide up to $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol.
Now, the House will work to draft the legislation to pass the measure. Leadership has expressed the intention of keeping the bill narrowly constrained to immigration enforcement.
Earlier Wednesday, the House also voted to extended a key federal surveillance program in a 235–191 vote, sending the measure to the Senate just ahead of the program’s expiry on Thursday.
The surveillance program is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect emails, phone calls, texts, and other communications of foreign nationals located outside the United States for national security purposes, such as tracking terrorism, espionage, or weapons proliferation, without obtaining an individualized warrant.
However, the data of Americans who communicate with these foreign targets can be incidentally gathered and is available to U.S. intelligence without a warrant—a “backdoor search” loophole that has come under criticism by privacy advocates.
The bill does not include new warrant requirements, despite bipartisan calls for stricter safeguards.
“This bill lets the government search Americans’ private communications without a warrant—in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment,” former Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) wrote on X. “But don’t blame the GOP alone. Forty-two Democrats betrayed the American people to help Mike Johnson pass it.”
Under the bill, the comptroller general would be required to submit a report within one year of enactment to key congressional committees, including the House and Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees. The report would present the results of an audit assessing whether current targeting procedures appropriately limit surveillance under Section 702. The legislation also explicitly prohibits the intentional targeting of U.S. citizens.
Lawmakers from both parties have advocated additional protections, particularly requiring warrants before accessing Americans’ data collected under the program. However, President Donald Trump has pushed for a “clean” extension without new restrictions, arguing that the authority is critical for national security.
Trump has pointed to what he describes as past abuses of surveillance powers, including their use during the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation of his 2016 campaign. At the same time, he has emphasized the importance of maintaining Section 702, especially amid tensions involving Iran.
He has said that military leaders view the authority as indispensable for protecting U.S. interests abroad, including troops and diplomats, and for responding quickly to emerging threats.
“I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they consider it VITAL," he wrote in an April 14 Truth Social post. "Not one said, even tacitly, that they can do without it—especially right now with our brilliant Military Operation in Iran.”
Alongside the surveillance debate, lawmakers also advanced a budget resolution that would allocate $70 billion to ICE and Border Patrol through January 20, 2029, the end of Trump’s current term. The Senate approved the framework on April 23.
The funding discussion comes during an ongoing partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which began on Feb. 14. Although agencies such as ICE and Customs and Border Protection have remained funded under previous legislation, Democrats have raised concerns about expanding their budgets without reforms such as requiring agents to show identification and avoid wearing masks.
Senate Republicans previously passed a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that excluded ICE and the Border Patrol, but House Republicans rejected that approach. Instead, they approved a short-term measure to fund the entire department for 60 days.
The House also moved forward with the latest version of the Farm Bill, a wide-ranging package that typically governs agricultural, nutrition, and conservation programs for about five years.
One amendment, introduced by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), would prevent states from setting pesticide labeling standards that differ from federal guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency.