“I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores over the next few weeks,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters following the vote. “We have done everything we possibly can. House Republicans are trying to govern; we’re trying to keep the American people safe.”

There was significant Democratic crossover in the House to pass the last extension of the surveillance program. But this go around, Democrats largely withheld their support for the measure over President Donald Trump’s appointment of top housing official Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, arguing that he is not fit to serve in the position.

The House’s failure to pass an extension of the key government spy tool comes after weeks of stalled talks. Johnson pointed to a three-year extension of the spy tool that included reforms and a ban on central bank digital currency sent over by the House in April. The Senate rejected that deal at the time, opting instead to pass a 45-day clean extension till June 12.

The speaker accused Democrats of using the surveillance program as a “political hostage” and pointed the finger at Senate Democrats for the upper chamber’s inability to pass the three-year deal.

In a joint statement ahead of the vote, Democratic leaders, including House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT), wrote that “Section 702 is a critical foreign intelligence authority, but we cannot in good conscience vote for reauthorization without significant reforms to protect both national security and the constitutional privacy rights of Americans.”

“Bill Pulte has no relevant national security experience,” the statement continues. “Consequently, his appointment is in defiance of the law that requires the Director of National Intelligence to have ‘extensive’ national security experience.”

Democrats have repeatedly called for Trump to walk back his decision to appoint Pulte as acting DNI before they support any deal on the government surveillance program, a demand that the president has refused.

Instead, the president called on Congress to pass a short-term deal to give him time to select a permanent successor to outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard and avoid the lapsing of the spy tool.

“FISA 702 is very important to our Military, and keeping the American People safe, especially during the World Cup and America250 Celebrations,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “If nothing is done, this important Law will expire this week.”

But the House also saw significant opposition from Republicans, with several Republican “no” votes stemming from a desire to see the Senate pass the three-year deal and from hardliners demanding a warrant requirement for data of U.S. citizens to be attached to an extension of Section 702.

Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), one of the Republican noes, told the Washington Examiner, “We’re running out of runway on changing FISA, and FISA needs significant reforms.”

“Everybody knows that,” he continued, “So we’ve got to keep making the stand, making the case that we must have reforms. This was a clean, and I understand they wanted to get it, so we could continue to negotiate, but this was going to fail. We knew it was going to fail.”

Hardliners also argue that even if Congress does not pass an extension, the tool will not “go dark” and will instead continue to operate under an authorization given to it by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which extended authorities until 2027.

FISA SPAT PUTS MIKE JOHNSON’S ALLIANCE WITH TRUMP TO THE TEST

“It’s not going to go dark,” Self said. “Let’s put that myth to bed.”

House members are leaving for recess on Thursday and are not expected to return until June 23. Eyes will now shift to the White House to see whether the president will issue an executive order to extend the program’s authorities, as asked for by members of Congress.