Congress passes 45-day FISA extension, sends to Trump for signature
An earlier extension of the program would have expired at midnight Thursday.
The House on Thursday passed a 45-day extension of the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act (FISA) Section 702 by a vote of 261-111, sending the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature just hours before an earlier short-term extension would have expired at midnight.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate unanimously approved a 45-day extension of the surveillance program.
The House passed a three-year extension of FISA on Wednesday, but its version included a controversial Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) provision that many Republican senators oppose. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday the Senate would be unable to move the House's proposal and would instead advance the clean reauthorization it took up today.
Ahead of the bill's passage, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden announced that a letter cosigned by Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton and Vice Chairman Mark Warner would be sent to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche insisting on a declassification and public release of an opinion by the FISA court that he says will help to inform the Senate's debate of Section 702 reform.
The short-term extension of the warrantless surveillance law buys lawmakers more time -- until mid-June -- to hash out their differences over reauthorizing the program.
Much of the Senate has left for its May recess and will return on Monday, May 11. The House returns from its recess the following day.
The program allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant, including when those people are interacting with Americans.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the U.S. government believes it's a vital tool for protecting the country against "hostile foreign adversaries, including terrorists, proliferators, and spies, and to inform cybersecurity efforts."
"Two-thirds of the president's daily national security briefing comes from intelligence collected by that statute (Section 702 of FISA). We cannot allow it to go dark," House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday evening said the House's bill would be "very, very hard" for the Senate to pass and it will instead likely move forward on a 45-day clean authorization.
Thune said he told House GOP leadership in the Senate could not move the bill because of its CBDC provisions.
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