A longstanding law enabling U.S. intelligence agencies to gather and examine massive amounts of overseas communications without search warrants is due to expire next week, with lawmakers at an impasse over whether to permit the Trump administration to extend it unchanged.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes the NSA, CIA, FBI, and other federal agencies to capture overseas communications passing through the U.S. without needing individual warrants.
In capturing global communications, these agencies also collect vast amounts of data, including phone logs and emails, on Americans interacting with surveilled individuals abroad, despite constitutional protections against government surveillance.
Ahead of the law’s April 20 expiry, a bipartisan, pro-privacy group of lawmakers is demanding significant FISA reforms to protect Americans’ privacy rights.
Some lawmakers push for reforms following years of surveillance abuse scandals, while others are leveraging their vote to further political objectives by tying provisions to other legislation.
A social media post by President Trump indicates the White House’s preference for a straightforward re-authorization without changes.
Late into Friday, House Republicans approved an FISA extension to April 30 as a temporary measure allowing further negotiation. The Senate, reconvening on Monday, must approve the bill by majority vote to pass the short-term extension.
The bipartisan proposal, the Government Surveillance Reform Act, introduced in March by Sens. Ron Wyden, Mike Lee, and others, aims to curb government warrantless surveillance programs. It includes measures to block agencies from using a “backdoor search” loophole to access Americans’ communications without warrants.
Another provision would prohibit federal agencies from purchasing Americans’ data from brokers, a practice the government claims does not require court permission.
App developers gather extensive location data sold to brokers, who then sell it to governments and militaries. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed in March that the FBI buys this data without court authorization.
Both Republicans and Democrats are reportedly eager to close this loophole, allowing spy agencies to purchase commercial data and utilize AI to analyze location data. This is also a contentious point in negotiations with Anthropic and OpenAI over using their tools.
The ACLU, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Project on Government Oversight are among the groups supporting the bipartisan bill.
Though the bill’s passage remains uncertain, lawmakers emphasize the need for legislative reforms as technological advancements facilitate increased surveillance by tech companies and governments.
Wyden, the longest-serving lawmaker on a congressional intelligence committee and a privacy advocate, cautions that many lawmakers are unaware of a secret interpretation of Section 702 affecting Americans’ privacy. He calls for this information to be declassified for discussion.
On X, Rep. Thomas Massie stated he would vote against Section 702 reauthorization after voicing concerns about the FBI’s interpretation of the law.
Even if Section 702 expires on Monday, U.S. government surveillance powers won’t end immediately.
While the House of Representatives remains undecided on renewing or altering Section 702, a legal provision allows U.S. surveillance to continue until 2027 unless Congress actively intervenes — even if the law expires.
This situation arises because the secretive Washington D.C. court overseeing FISA compliance, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), annually certifies the legality of government practices. This certification allows ongoing data collection for 12 months, ensuring the continuation of FISA-based surveillance.
The U.S. government also possesses other Congress-unsupervised surveillance powers, such as Executive Order 12333, a secret directive governing most overseas U.S. surveillance, which also impacts unknown quantities of Americans’ private communications.