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Congress Approves 45-Day Extension of FISA Section 702

The pause gives negotiators time to consider limits on warrantless searches of Americans' communications.

Overview

  • Lawmakers kept the surveillance authority from expiring with a 45-day stopgap while they haggle over a longer renewal.
  • The House passed a three-year reauthorization that also bans a U.S. central bank digital currency, a pairing Senate leaders said would not pass.
  • Senate leaders arranged a letter from Sens. Tom Cotton and Mark Warner urging the intelligence chief and the Justice Department to declassify the latest FISA court opinion within 15 days to inform talks.
  • Section 702 targets people overseas but also sweeps in Americans’ messages, and critics say FBI searches of that database have bypassed warrants.
  • Reform advocates are pressing for warrants on searches of U.S. persons, a halt to government purchases of Americans’ data from brokers, and a tighter definition of which companies can be forced to assist.