Speaker Johnson huddles with Trump to try to finalize FISA deal

Trump tapping Bill Pulte to lead ODNI has endangered renewal of the spy program.

President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are meeting at the White House on Tuesday as the deadline nears for Congress to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Their huddle comes as Trump's choice of Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence slows efforts on Capitol Hill to renew the controversial spy program by end of day Friday, or face a first-ever lapse in the program's legal authorization.

Democrats in both chambers have signaled objections to Pulte, contending the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency does not have any national intelligence experience.

As he left the Capitol on Tuesday, Johnson told ABC News Correspondent Jay O'Brien that it's up to the president to choose whoever he wants to run the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, rebuffing pressure to change course.

"Is it time for the president to change his mind on Bill Pulte as acting DNI?" ABC's O'Brien asked Johnson.

"It's the president's prerogative," Johnson answered. "I'm going over there right now to visit with him and his team about a number of items."

At the top of that list is FISA's Section 702, which allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant, including when those people are communicating with Americans. The program has been fully reauthorized by Congress three times since the intelligence tool was created by law in 2008.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that Trump and Johnson are meeting "to finalize this agreement on FISA."

"FISA has been used time and time again to stop terrorist attacks here on our homeland on American soil to prevent terrorist attacks, and that's a critical, critical tool that we need to renew," Scalise said.

Johnson signaled that the House is waiting for the Senate to act on FISA, a feat that will require the bipartisan support of at least 60 senators.

"We passed FISA reauthorization in the House in April. It's still sitting over in the Senate. They're working on another compromise bill," Johnson told ABC News. "We'll pass what they send."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Tuesday that he believes Trump is "weighing seriously" naming a permanent nominee to serve as director of national intelligence as Pulte's appointment stalls FISA movement on the Senate floor. Pulte can only serve on an acting basis for up to 210 days without Senate confirmation.

Thune said he has not spoken directly to Tru