House votes to renew spy program, but GOP chaos stalls push to end DHS shutdown

CongressHouse votes to renew foreign spy program, but GOP chaos stalls push to end DHS shutdownA dispute over the farm bill delayed a vote on the Senate-passed measure that would jump-start the process to end the 74-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., struggled to win over Republican holdouts.Kevin Dietsch / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 29, 2026, 9:27 PM EDTBy Scott Wong, Kyle Stewart, Lizzie Jensen and Sahil KapurWASHINGTON — House Republicans went into Wednesday expecting to pass two big pieces of legislation. They ended up falling short on one of them.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The GOP-controlled House voted to renew a powerful foreign surveillance program, but a dispute over the farm bill delayed final passage of a Senate-approved budget resolution that would jump-start the process to fund ICE and the Border Patrol for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term.The House voted 235-191 to extend the critical spy program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires this week.House members appeared to be on track to pass the budget resolution Wednesday night. But that was before a bloc of Republicans unhappy with provisions in the unrelated farm bill withheld their votes on the budget, forcing GOP leaders to negotiate with them on the House floor with the vote still open and the cameras rolling.Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., later moved the heated talks to his private office. As the impasse hit the three-hour mark, leaders announced no further votes would be held Wednesday night as they tried to find a solution.Asked to describe the chaotic day, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., replied: "S---show."If it ultimately succeeds, the budget vote could unlock the GOP support needed to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down for...