House readies vote to renew FISA 702 without a warrant amendment
The spying power, which expires April 20 unless extended, lets intelligence agencies compel internet service providers to furnish communications of foreigners located abroad without a warrant. But the process can also collect U.S. person communications if they are in contact with a foreign target, raising Fourth Amendment concerns when the contents of those U.S. person calls, text messages and emails are subsequently searched.
Privacy advocates have long pushed for a warrant measure for collected U.S. person data queried under the program.
Three GOP members of the Rules panel who have previously supported a warrant measure — Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Morgan Griffith of Virginia — were not present to vote in favor of it, a notable absence as the committee moved forward with a closed process that blocked the warrant amendment.
In the 2024 reauthorization cycle, efforts to require warrants for 702 searches involving American communications came close to success when a House amendment failed after a 212–212 tie vote. That amendment, as well as the one that failed Tuesday, was led by Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona.
The Trump administration is seeking a clean extension of the law for an 18-month period, meaning that a warrant reform would not be included in its desired reauthorization.
In a long discussion Tuesday evening over the substance of the bill that would extend the authority, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the extensive set of 2024 reforms to Section 702 have worked, sharply reducing past FBI abuses, and that, given current national security threats and ongoing military operations, an 18‑month extension of the program is justified.
Jordan has previously supported a warrant requirement but flipped his position in this cycle.
His Democratic counterpart on Judiciary, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, argued that a so‑called clean reauthorization is a “dirty deal” because the Trump administration has dismantled watchdogs and civil‑liberties safeguards and cannot be trusted to police its own surveillance powers, and that Congress must add stronger guardrails before renewing Section 702.
“The bill before us today leaves the Trump administration in charge of policing its own abuses of this sweeping authority that is going to be unacceptable to the American people who understand how our privacy rights and civil liberties are being trampled every day,” said Raskin.
Lawmakers’ concerns about Trump-era immigration enforcement and concurrent Fourth Amendment compliance were expected to weigh on the reauthorization fight, Nextgov/FCW reported in early February.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine addressed lawmakers in an April 8 letter, saying 702 expiration would “significantly impair” national security capabilities if the statute isn’t extended, according to a copy obtained Tuesday by Nextgov/FCW. A classified enclosure described in the letter provided details on how the authority informs the Pentagon on foreign adversaries’ and U.S. combat operations planning, it added.
The CIA has also been advocating on Capitol Hill for a clean extension, distributing a fact sheet to lawmakers’ offices that says Section 702 aided the spy agency in helping to stop a mass casualty event at a Taylor Swift concert in 2024.
The sheet added that the statute aided in a number of drug-related operations, and also provided U.S. law enforcement “with information used to warn intended American victims of North Korean ransomware attacks.”
About 50 House Democrats signed an April 14 letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, urging them to adopt changes as part of the reauthorization of the statute, according to a copy viewed by Nextgov/FCW. Those proposed changes included closing a “loophole” that allows the intelligence community to purchase data from data brokers without a warrant.
President Donald Trump hosted GOP holdouts at the White House on Tuesday night in an attempt to convince them to vote in favor of a clean measure, Politico reported. It’s not clear if the meeting appeased enough lawmakers to switch their stance.
“Reauthorizing FISA Section 702 without reforms to protect privacy would be a major disservice to the American people. Promises made must be kept!” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, who is supporting major reforms to the spying authority, said in an X post Tuesday night.
He added: “I was encouraged by discussions tonight, but after a weak path through Rules Committee we shall see…”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson will have to decide whether to bring the clean extension to the floor as scheduled, or delay a procedural vote amid uncertainty about whether it can pass.
In March, the Trump administration notified Congress that Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court renewed certifications for the surveillance program, letting it operate for another year even amid its potential expiration.
But the split between the court’s recertification process and Congress’s role in renewing Section 702 can create legal gray areas for firms required to submit to the program. The intelligence court approves the rules governing the program, but only lawmakers can extend the authority itself, raising questions about compliance if the statute lapses.
In the 2024 reauthorization debate, two service providers privately warned they would stop complying if the law was not renewed, despite the program having been recertified that year.
Section 702 was enacted in 2008, codifying parts of the once-secret Stellarwind surveillance program created under the Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2013, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden disclosed documents detailing how the authority was used, fueling a global debate over privacy and mass surveillance.
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