WASHINGTON — Congress unanimously approved a 10-day renewal of the federal government’s foreign spying authority in the early hours of Friday morning, after more than a dozen privacy-minded Republicans voted to kill a measure extending the powers for years more.
The House and Senate both approved by unanimous consent the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expire April 30, shifting back from a prior April 20 deadline.
Two prior bipartisan House votes failed, including one aimed at extending the foreign spy powers by five years with some revisions, and another so-called “clean” extension with no changes to the law for 18 months.
The 18-month extension failed 228-197, with 20 House Republicans — many of whom are members of the conservative Freedom Caucus — objecting to the measure.
“Warrantless backdoor surveillance of American citizens is happening under FISA Section 702 — and that’s wrong,” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) said Friday.
“We must defend Americans’ constitutional right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment and fix FISA. We’ve got 10 days to do it. Let’s get it done.”
Section 702 has had to be renewed periodically since its passage in 2008.
Privacy hawks in Congress have maintained that the foreign spying authority unlawfully allows the government to obtain text messages, emails, and other communications between a target of an investigation located abroad and a US citizen.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) claimed he had recently reviewed “two top-secret documents” that also show the feds have been broadening Section 702’s use.
According to an unsealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) filing from 2021, the FBI improperly accessed US citizens’ data as many as 278,000 times.
“We stopped both versions, but the fight isn’t over,” Massie said, joining opponents of the current law by calling for the government to obtain warrants when seeking Americans’ data.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also cited “major compliance problems” that were “related to Americans’ Constitutional rights” last week, based on a recent FISC court finding, which he said should be declassified to the public.
Trump supported the reauthorization of FISA Section 702, telling House Republicans to “UNIFY” and “vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor” in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post.
“I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country!” the president expressed.
“Our Military Patriots desperately need FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield,” added Trump. “I have spoken with many in our Military who say FISA is necessary in order to protect our Troops overseas, as well as our people here at home, from the threat of Foreign Terror Attacks.”
“It has already prevented MANY such Attacks, and it is very important that it remain in full force and effect,” he also said.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) acknowledged to reporters after leaving the floor that his conference was “very close” to passing a longer extension, but “there’s some nuances with the language and some questions that need to be answered, and we’ll get it done.”
“FISA is a critical national security tool,” he added. “It’s also a very complicated piece of legislation, and what we’re trying to do is thread the needle of ensuring that we have this essential tool to keep Americans safe but also safeguard our constitutional rights, and making sure that the abuses of FISA in the past are no longer possible.”
In 2024, Johnson and a bipartisan group of House lawmakers passed a two-year reauthorization of Section 702 by wide margins, which was also approved in the Senate and signed into law by former President Joe Biden.
That version reformed some of the processes by which intelligence agencies can obtain FISA warrants or how the FBI can access US citizens’ data under Section 702, going as far as to impose criminal penalties for any abuses by rogue agents.
