House passes FISA extension ahead of Thursday deadline
Washington — A powerful surveillance authority that the U.S. government uses to spy on foreigners cleared the House on Wednesday, resolving one stalemate that threatened to derail its renewal before it expires this week.
It now faces hurdles in the Senate.
The controversial spy tool, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is set to lapse Thursday. Congress approved a 10-day extension ahead of the original April 20 deadline.
After House GOP opposition forced days of delay, the lower chamber advanced the measure earlier Wednesday in a procedural vote that was held open for about two hours as leaders worked to convince holdouts to flip their votes.
The House passed the measure — which is formatted as an amendment to an unrelated bill — in a 235 to 191 vote later in the day.
Section 702, which was first authorized in 2008, allows the government to collect the communications of noncitizens located outside the U.S. without a warrant, though it can also sweep up the data of Americans who are in contact with the targeted foreigners. The FBI is able to search Americans' data gathered through the program without a warrant.
National security officials have long argued that the law is vital for disrupting terrorist plots, foreign espionage, international drug trafficking and cyber intrusions.
House Republicans released their latest proposal late last week aimed at appeasing conservative holdouts that would extend Section 702 for three years. It outlines several guardrails to protect civil liberties, but does not include a warrant requirement for searches of Americans' data that is scooped up in the program — a major point of contention.
To appease conservatives, GOP leaders agreed to attach a bill preventing the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency to the reauthorization bill before it is sent to the Senate. The House passed the central bank digital currency bill last year.
But the inclusion of a central bank digital currency ban complicates passage in the Senate.
Senate Republicans have been teeing up their own three-year extension. But some senators have also demanded a warrant requirement. A procedural vote was initially expected Tuesday afternoon to advance the measure, but has been delayed until later in the week.
On the other side of the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters another short-term extension may be needed.
"I don't like doing another punt," he said. "We need a longer-term solution in place, but we obviously have to play the hand we're dealt."
The House's three-year extension would require the FBI to submit monthly reports to oversight officials justifying searches related to Americans' data collected under the surveillance authority. It also seeks to ensure that members of Congress and staff have access to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court proceedings and expands criminal penalties for abusing the law.
GOP Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called on the Senate to take up the House-passed bill "immediately."
"Many of us understand the significant advantage 702 provides to U.S. national security and the fervent need to protect Americans' privacy and civil liberties. We should not sacrifice one for the other, and this legislation, passed by the House, strikes that balance," he said in a statement Wednesday.
President Trump had pressed Republicans to accept an 18-month reauthorization of the law without any reforms ahead of the April 20 expiration date. But the strategy faced stiff opposition from privacy-minded lawmakers in both parties, as well as from members who cited a number of other reasons they could not support it.
House GOP leaders repeatedly delayed votes on an extension earlier this month as they lacked enough support from their own members to advance the legislation. A number of Republicans, mostly conservatives, helped sink a proposal that would have extended the law by five years, as well as the 18-month renewal without reforms. That led both the House and Senate to approve a short-term extension via unanimous consent just days before its expiration.