When House and Senate lawmakers return to the U.S. Capitol on Monday, they’ll have just a few days to renew a critical intelligence-gathering law that has sharply divided both parties amid mounting concerns over privacy rights.
House Republican leaders plan to call up legislation that would extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The legislation, backed by President Trump, would extend the act for 18 months, with no changes or additions sought by dozens of lawmakers who say the warrantless surveillance language in its current form violates civil liberties.
The measure faces steep opposition from the GOP’s right flank, as well as from dozens of Democrats who form a bipartisan coalition that has long sought stronger guardrails on the surveillance tool.
The Section 702 reauthorization is one of several headaches Speaker Mike Johnson faces when the House returns.
Members of the GOP’s razor-thin majority are grumbling over plans to fund the partially shuttered Homeland Security Department, while GOP leaders will have to ward off any additional Republican support for a looming resolution that would block further military action in Iran without congressional authorization.
House Democrats plan to bring up the resolution this week after Republicans blocked it in a pro forma session on Thursday, and just one or two GOP votes are needed to pass it.
The intelligence-gathering law expires on April 20.
Mr. Johnson has defended Section 702, telling reporters before leaving town for the two-week Easter recess that the law is “responsible in large measure for the intelligence that we use to keep Americans safe.”
The Louisiana Republican plans to bring up the bill under special rules that prohibit amendments and limit debate to one hour. It will require two-thirds support for passage, which means a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats will have to vote for it.
Mr. Johnson warned against allowing the current surveillance authority to “go dark” after Section 702 expires, and said reform provisions added during the 2024 reauthorization satisfy civil liberties concerns.
Even if the measure passes in the House, Senate opposition could block it from reaching Mr. Trump’s desk.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, both privacy advocates, said there are loopholes in the law that allow the FBI to search Americans’ communications under authorities that expired six years ago.
The two lawmakers wants the Senate to pass the Government Surveillance Reform Act, which would block the FBI and other government agencies from buying web browsing data from Big Tech companies that reveal location and other information without obtaining a warrant.
It would also block “reverse targeting” by law enforcement who surveil Americans who communicate with foreigners.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, introduced the same measure in the House.
Proponents of the reform measure have publicized abuses of the law, among them 278,000 violations that occurred between 2020 and 2021 involving warrantless searches of George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protesters, Jan. 6 Capitol rioters without proper justification, and 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign.
“FISA Section 702 has been stretched far beyond its original purpose and now enables unconstitutional warrantless searches of American citizens and their private communications,” said Rep. Warren Davidson, Ohio Republican and cosponsor of the House reform bill.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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