Congress is staring down the clock on a looming deadline for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a powerful warrantless surveillance authority — for the third time in less than two months. We can escape this chaotic quagmire, but only if congressional leaders stop stonewalling and allow votes on reforms, which until now had always been the expected norm.
Given its controversial nature and history of abuse — FISA 702 has previously been misused by the FBI to pull up private messages of protesters, politicians, campaign donors, and journalists — the periodic reauthorization debates for this law have always proven challenging. But this year has reached an unprecedented level of dysfunction. Over the past eight weeks, last-minute efforts to extend FISA 702 for the rest of the Trump presidency have twice imploded in disastrous fashion, with lawmakers passing short-term extensions to stall for time and recalibrate. And it appears the third time will not be the charm — last week brought another late-night meltdown, with a majority of senators rejecting the latest effort to extend FISA 702 without any meaningful changes.
