The intelligence-gathering program that allows U.S.government surveillance of foreigners abroad by collecting domestic communication information is set to expire at the end of the day Friday after the House and Senate left town without passing an extension.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.This will be the first time the law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, has lapsed since the counterterrorism and counterespionage measure was passed in 2008.
What that means for the ability of intelligence agencies to gather key information is a huge open question.What is FISA Section 702?FISA Section 702 authorizes the warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad through the collection of information from domestic communications systems with the assistance of service providers.The program can only target foreigners located outside of the United States who are expected to possess, receive or communicate foreign intelligence information.The surveillance authority is controversial, however, because of the possibility that U.S.
citizens’ communications with targeted foreigners could be swept up incidentally, potentially violating their rights.How did Congress get here? The House passed a three-year extension of FISA Section 702 in late April, but included an unrelated amendment — a provision to ban the Federal Reserve from issuing digital currency — that Republicans added to win over conservative holdouts.The Senate did not take up that bill, instead passing a 45-day extension of the program without the digital currency ban the next day, which the House then also approved.
That gave Congress until Friday to work out a path forward on FISA.On Thursday, however, the House failed to pass a short-term extension of the program through July 2.Seeing no path forward without even a simple majority of support for the measure, House Republicans adjourned for a previously scheduled recess unt...