Senate approves 45-day extension of FISA surveillance powers

The Senate on Thursday approved a 45-day extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) Section 702 surveillance powers, punting the legislation back to the House, which previously passed an extension with reforms.Section 702 allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreigners, but has attracted attention from privacy hawks due to chance that the intelligence community could secure information on Americans in the process. House lawmakers have long sought to reform the Section 702 spy powers amid a string of abuses.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, for his part, indicated that a discussion on reforms could take place after Congress ensured the legislation did not lapse, saying “[a]t this point, we’ll be able to proceed and allow for additional time and consideration so that we can come to an agreement that hopefully in this body and the House can agree upon to reauthorize the FISA program, and I think there’s a discussion going on about reforms to that,” The Hill reported.
President Donald Trump has called for a “clean extension” of Section 702, citing the ongoing Iran war and contending that the surveillance authority is a military necessity.
“I am working very hard with our Great Speaker, Mike Johnson, along with Chairman Jim Jordan and Chairman Rick Crawford, to get a clean extension of FISA 702 through the House of Representatives this week,” he posted on Truth Social in April. “I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor. We need to stick together when this Bill comes before the House Rules Committee today to keep it CLEAN!”
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.

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