House passes 10-day renewal of governments foreign spy powers

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives unanimously approved a 10-day renewal of the federal government’s foreign spying authority in the early hours of Friday, after more than a dozen privacy-minded Republicans voted to kill a measure extending the powers for years.Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would expire April 30 under the approved legislation, shifting back from April 20.Two prior bipartisan votes failed, including one aimed at extending the foreign spy powers by five years with some revisions, and another so-called “clean” extension with no changes to the law for 18 months.The 18-month extension failed 228-197, with 20 House Republicans — many of whom are members of the conservative Freedom Caucus — objecting to the measure.“Warrantless backdoor surveillance of American citizens is happening under FISA Section 702 — and that’s wrong,” Rep.Keith Self (R-Texas) said Friday.“We must defend Americans’ constitutional right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment and fix FISA.

We’ve got 10 days to do it.Let’s get it done.”Section 702 has had to be renewed periodically since its passage in 2008.Privacy hawks in Congress have maintained that the foreign spying authority unlawfully allows the government to obtain text messages, emails and other communications between a target of an investigation located abroad and a US citizen.Rep.

Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) claimed he had recently reviewed “two top-secret documents” that also show the feds have been broadening Section 702’s use.According to an unsealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court filing from 2021, the FBI improperly accessed US citizens’ data as many as 278,000 times.“We stopped both versions, but the fight isn’t over,” Massie said, joining opponents of the current law by calling for the government to obtain warrants when seeking Americans’ data.Trump supported the reauthorization of FISA Section 702, telling House Republicans to ...