Chamber sends external surveillance reform project to the Senate

The House on Monday resolved its procedural matters on a bill to reform the nation’s warrantless surveillance powers, moving the controversial reauthorization to the Senate.

Monday’s vote came after a tie in the House on an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The push from privacy hawks went to the limit, failing with a vote of 212-212.

Two representatives then offered competing motions on whether to reconsider the issue, pushing the House to consider the FISA bill again after passing it without a warrant requirement on Friday.

Lawmakers voted 259-128 on Monday to table the motion to revive the project.

The vote leaves the reauthorization bill heading to the Senate without requiring a warrant that has united some firebrand conservatives with progressive Democrats.

Section 702 authorizes the nation’s intelligence agencies to spy only on noncitizens living abroad. But in the course of these operations, the government frequently sweeps the communications of Americans in contact with foreigners under surveillance.

While supporters of a warrant argued that it was necessary to protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights, opponents argued that it was not legally required and would destroy the bill by preventing law enforcement from acting on real-time information. .

The bill reauthorizes FISA 702 for an additional two years and includes some reforms to the program, including a dramatic reduction in the number of officials who can authorize the use of the 702 database to query information related to a U.S. person. These queries will also undergo a subsequent audit.

“It is best understood as the most comprehensive set of reforms in the history of the 702 program. This is a true reform bill that will change the way we do business, especially the FBI, in a way that will better protect civil liberties and privacy,” a senior Justice Department official told The Hill on Monday.

In the Senate, the project also faces opposition from those who want stronger reforms.

“This bill represents one of the most dramatic and terrifying expansions of government surveillance authority in history,” wrote Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee who has pushed for reforms to Section 702, on social media. platform X shortly after the approval of the House bill.

“I will do everything in my power to prevent it from passing the Senate.”