A controversial America eavesdropping program days since its expiration has removed a major obstacle in the path to re-licensing.
After months of delays, false starts and interference by lawmakers aimed at maintaining and expanding the U.S. intelligence community’s spying powers, the House of Representatives on Friday voted to extend Section 702 of the U.S. intelligence community. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) adds two years.
Legislation to expand the program—controversial because of government abuse—passes the House in a conference call 273–147 votes. The Senate has yet to pass its own bill.
Section 702 allows the US government to eavesdrop on communications between Americans and foreigners abroad. Hundreds of millions of calls, texts and emails were intercepted by government spies with “forced assistance” from US communications service providers.
The government may strictly target foreigners believed to possess “foreign intelligence,” but it also eavesdrops on the conversations of countless Americans each year. (The government claims it cannot determine how many Americans were caught up in the scheme.) The government argues that Americans themselves are not targets and therefore the wiretapping is legal. However, their calls, texts and emails can be stored by the government for years and then accessed by law enforcement without a judge’s permission.
The House bill also significantly expands the statutory definition of communications service providers, which FISA experts, including Marc Zwillinger—one of the few advisers to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)—has publicly warned against it.
“Anti-reformers not only reject common-sense reforms to FISA, they also push for the expansion of warrantless spying on Americans,” U.S. Senator Ron Wyden told WIRED. ”. “Their amendment would force your cable carriers to become government spies and assist in surveillance of Americans’ communications without a warrant.”
FBI Program abuse records launched a rare detente last fall between progressive Democrats and pro-Trump Republicans — both equally upset by the FBI’s targeting spent on activists, journalists and a sitting member of Congress. But in a major victory for the Biden administration, House members voted down an amendment earlier in the day that would have imposed new warrant requirements on access by federal agencies into 702 Americans data.
“Many of the members supporting this vote have a long history of voting for protections,” said Sean Vitka, policy director at the civil liberties-focused nonprofit Demand Progress. this particular right to privacy”.
The revised order was passed earlier this year by the House Judiciary Committee, whose long-standing authority over FISA has been challenged by friends of the intelligence community. Brennan Center analysis this week found that 80% of the substantive content of the FISA reauthorization bill was drafted by intelligence committee members.
“Three million Americans’ data were searched in this information database,” said Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “The FBI didn’t even follow its own rules when they conducted those searches. That’s why we need a search warrant.”
Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has lobbied top intelligence officials for months against the order revisions, saying they would cost the agency valuable time. treasure and obstructing national security investigations. Turner argued that the communications were obtained legally and were already in the government’s possession; No further approval is required to test them.
