Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., speaks as U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Donald Trump’s trade policy on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 8, 2025.
Kevin Mohatt | reuters
The House and Senate on Friday approved a short-term extension of a section of federal law that allows warrantless surveillance and the collection of foreign intelligence, although renewal beyond the end of this month is in jeopardy.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was set to expire on Monday and allows the government to collect communications of people outside the US, including how they interact with Americans. Friday’s vote extends the program through April 30.
The short-term extension passed the House only in the early hours of Friday morning after GOP hard-liners advanced separate five-year and 18-year proposals to extend the program.
Why is Section 702 controversial?
Proponents argue that warrantless surveillance programs are an invaluable tool in protecting U.S. interests and thwarting potential threats. The CIA said this month that the program helped foil a plan 2024 terrorist attack on taylor swift Concert in Austria.
But an extension without changes to the program is widely opposed by many GOP hard-liners and some Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who blocked a short-term extension on Friday but relented in hopes of signing a deal to more significantly alter the surveillance program.
“Americans understand that there are abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act every day,” Wyden said from the Senate floor on Friday, calling the outright expansion unacceptable. “So it’s clear the time has come for real reforms to protect Americans from a government they don’t trust.”
What does the White House say?
President Donald Trump has called for an explicit 18-month extension of the program, posting His support for the Truth SocietyEl on Wednesday cited the need for stronger security, especially amid the ongoing war in Iran.
Trump said, “The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our military. I’ve talked to a number of generals about this and they think it’s important. No one, even tacitly, has said they could do without it – especially right now with our spectacular military campaign in Iran.”
What will happen next?
The House left town on Friday after both the House and Senate passed a short-term extension. Leaders of both houses are to resume talks when they return to Washington next week. And he will have to contend with members on both sides of the aisle who are demanding greater protections for the privacy of American citizens.
Reps. Jim Himes, D-Conn., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrats on the House Intelligence, Judiciary and Rules committees, respectively, issued a joint statement Criticized his Republican colleagues for trying to block a five-year extension at midnight on Friday.
“By agreeing to a two-week extension of this authority, Democrats have made clear that it will require a true bipartisan process, and they must work with us in good faith to reach an agreement that enacts significant reforms and safeguards,” the lawmakers wrote. “And because all Members and the public deserve a meaningful role in this process consistent with House rules, we have insisted and Republicans have agreed to post the results of our conversations at least 72 hours before any vote.”
Correction: This story has been revised to reflect that Congress has extended Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The previous version misstated the year of the Act.