Congress continues to move forward on surveillance reform

Congress reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but only for another 45 days. The extension is intended to give lawmakers more time to negotiate reforms to the controversial wiretapping bill. If the past few weeks are any indication of how future discussions will play out, we are in for a bumpy ride.

the Renewed House Article 702 With minor repairs Wednesday evening. The bill did not include the hotly debated delegation provision, but it did include a provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called unsuccessful.

“Three weeks are more than enough to negotiate a reform bill,” Thune said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “That is if the members are serious about negotiating.”

This is the open question. Senators disagreed over the length of the extension. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) favored a three-week reauthorization, while Tom Cotton (R-Ariz.) called for a 45-day extension, citing an upcoming one-week recess. Cotton said Section 702 was necessary for the raid by US armed forces on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The Senate eventually reached a 45-day extension, which the House supported Thursday afternoon by a vote of 261 to 111.

Negotiations over the future of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act are likely to be fraught. On Wednesday, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) criticized House leadership for not allowing members to debate or vote on amendments to the reauthorization bill, calling the past two days of negotiations “a dumpster fire from a practical standpoint.”

“We spent all night waiting while the Republicans fought among themselves,” McGovern said. “We were told around midnight on Monday to go home. Then we were told that the bases would meet at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. We showed up for that meeting only to be told that there would be no meeting because Republicans were still busy fighting with each other.”

McGovern pointed out that many of the amendments to reform FISA were in fact introduced by Republicans, but House leadership did not allow them to be discussed.

“These bills take it or leave it. Leadership dictates every letter and every comma,” he said. “This is no way to run this place. This is no way to run a banana stand. It is pathetic, it is a disgrace, and the Speaker and the majority should be embarrassed by what is happening here. You are deceiving your members.”

Some members suggested that the House bill does not need to be discussed because it already includes many reforms. “It’s not the same as FISA,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who in 2024 supported an amendment requiring federal authorities to obtain warrants for inquiries into U.S. persons.

The draft law approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday includes some reforms. As described by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ariz.), it would impose criminal penalties for intentional misuse of FISA Section 702 inquiries and falsification of data submitted to the FISA court, require the Department of Justice to update procedures to allow members to attend court hearings, require prior approval by FBI counsel for all FBI US persons inquiries, and mandate an independent audit of Section 702 procedures by the Government Accountability Office. The bill also includes a completely unrelated provision that prevents the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies. This provision, based on Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) anti-Central Bank Digital Currency law, was attached to the FISA reauthorization by Rep. French Hill (R-AR).

Privacy advocates disagree that the House bill goes further. Jake Laperroc, deputy director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, called it “incredibly disappointing.”

“This bill is complete empty calories,” Laperroque said. “It contains no justification for questioning Americans’ messages, and it contains no meaningful reforms of any kind.”

Congress now has until June 14, 2026, to figure out Section 702 reforms.