The House passed a three-year reauthorization of a key spy power Wednesday, sending the extension to the Senate one day before it is set to expire.

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers voted 235-191 to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after weeks of agonizing negotiations and intraparty disputes.

But the saga isn’t over yet. The Senate is unlikely to clear the House-passed extension, which will be sent over with an unrelated, permanent ban on the Federal Reserve’s ability to issue a digital currency attached.

That provision was included at the behest of ultraconservatives, but it is so divisive across the Capitol that it has stalled a major affordable housing package for months. Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier this week warned that the digital currency ban was “not happening” as part of spy law renewal.

That means the Senate could send its own version of a Section 702 extension back to the House with just hours to spare before the law expires Thursday night.

The major U.S. spy program targets foreigners but also sweeps up data on Americans in the process, and privacy hawks on both sides of the aisle are demanding new guardrails to prevent the federal government from conducting warrantless surveillance on its own citizens.

After initially pushing for a White House-backed straight 18-month extension, GOP leaders agreed to add clarifications on Fourth Amendment protections and additional penalties for privacy violations to get many holdouts on board.

As Democrats seek to define a cost-of-living agenda ahead of the midterms, House members in the party’s left flank let loose an opening salvo Wednesday.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus laid out 10 prospective bills aimed at lowering the costs of prescription drugs, utilities, gas, child care, housing and more.

“This is the Progressive Caucus’ idea of what government should be doing for you every single day,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), the group’s chair, told reporters. “We think these ideas are not just progressive, but they are common sense. This is what all House Democrats should be able to unify around.”

Democrats have made “affordability” the centerpiece of their 2026 messaging, seizing on polling that shows broad dissatisfaction with the economy under a Republican trifecta.

Despite the success that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Govs. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey saw in using that agenda to win elections last year, House Democratic leaders have yet to outline detailed legislative plans for a potential turn in the majority.

That vacuum has left room for the left and center wings of the party to propose their own visions.

The centrist New Democratic Coalition laid out their “Affordability Agenda” earlier this year, and while the CPC’s “New Affordability Agenda” targets many overlapping issues, it also addresses key progressive priorities such as guaranteeing paid time off and abolishing super PACs.

During a news conference Wednesday, progressive leaders emphasized they want take on “corporate greed” as a vehicle to lower costs — an idea they hope will gain momentum with the party writ large.

Casar said he has been discussing these proposals with House Democratic leaders since he became the CPC’s leader in 2024. He called them “the kinds of consensus bills that we can govern on.”

“These bills win in Trump districts and Democratic districts and in swing districts all across the country,” he said.

House Republicans cleared the way for consideration of a key spy power sought by President Donald Trump — as well as the farm bill and the blueprint for funding immigration enforcement agencies that remain shuttered amid the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

It’s a major victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, whose chamber has been in a state of paralysis as lawmakers worked through Monday night and all Tuesday to reach an agreement with hard-liners to advance the three legislative priorities.

Lawmakers adopted the procedural measure Wednesday, 216-210, after fierce opposition from several members of the GOP conference over various issues related to the farm bill and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which will expire Thursday. Leaders spent over two hours on the floor flipping votes and wooing holdouts.

GOP leaders have been locked over the past week in intense negotiations with members who wanted to amend the program — which allows the government to surveil foreigners outside the U.S. without a warrant — to include guardrails on the warrantless surveillance of American citizens.

Many hard-liners have also been demanding a permanent ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a digital currency be added to any reauthorization. GOP leaders acceded to that demand, agreeing to combine the Section 702 extension with the digital currency ban upon passage. But the gambit is unlikely to survive in the Senate, where the issue has long been stalled.

“That’s not happening,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview about linking the two matters.

The successful procedural vote will also allow lawmakers to proceed to consideration of the latest farm bill — which would be the first blanket reauthorization of agriculture programs since 2018 — which GOP leaders hope to pass with help from several Democrats.

Some hard-liners are upset over GOP leadership’s plan to tack legislation onto the farm bill that would allow for year-round sales of the fuel blend known as E15 at the insistence of farm-state Republicans. Fiscal hawks balked at estimates showing it would cost $1 billion.

Republican leaders separately agreed to allow a floor vote on an amendment from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) that would remove a prohibition on states creating pesticide labeling laws that differ from EPA guidance — a major priority of health-focused Trump supporters.

Finally, the procedural vote sets up consideration of the fiscal blueprint the Senate adopted last week that would allow Congress to craft a budget reconciliation package addressing funding only for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, rather than a wider range of conservative priorities.

Republican leaders and the Trump administration insist the GOP needs to advance the Senate’s product without changes in order to quickly reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down since Feb. 14.

As with the farm bill, however, grumbling within the ranks remains, particularly among conservatives who want to expand the scope of the budget resolution to include other items on the GOP policy wishlist.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.