Congress has reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — but only for the next 45 days. The extension is intended to give lawmakers more time to negotiate reforms to the controversial wiretapping bill. However, if the past few weeks are any indication of what future debates will be like, we are in for a tough ride.
The House renewed Section 702 with minor amendments on Wednesday evening. The bill did not include the hotly debated warrant requirement, but it did contain a provision barring the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described as a nonstarter.
“Three weeks is enough time to negotiate the reform bill,” Thune said in the Senate on Thursday. “That is, if members are serious about negotiating.”
This is an open question. There was a tussle among senators over the length of the extension. Ron Wyden (D-OR) supported a three-week reauthorization, while Tom Cotton (R-AR) called for a 45-day extension, citing the upcoming one-week recess. Section 702 was necessary for the U.S. armed forces raid on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cotton said. The Senate ultimately reached a 45-day extension, which the House upheld on Thursday afternoon by a 261-111 vote.
Negotiations over the future of FISA are likely to be difficult. On Wednesday, Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) criticized House leadership for not allowing members to debate or vote on amendments to the reauthorization bill and described the past two days of negotiations as “a dumpster fire from a process standpoint.”
“We spent the whole night waiting while the Republicans fought among themselves,” McGovern said. “We were told to go home around midnight Monday. Then we were told there would be a rules meeting on Tuesday at 8 a.m. We came for that meeting but we were told there would be no meeting because Republicans were still busy fighting with each other.”
McGovern pointed out that several amendments that would reform FISA were actually introduced by Republicans – but the House leadership would not allow them to be debated.
He said, “These bills are take it or leave it. The leadership dictates every letter, every comma.” “This is no way to run this place. This is no way to run a banana shop. It’s pathetic, it’s disgraceful, and the speaker and the majority should be embarrassed by what’s happening here. You’re screwing your own members.”
Some members suggested that there was no need for debate on the House bill as it already included many reforms. “This is not the same FISA,” said Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), who supported an amendment in 2024 that would have required federal officials to obtain warrants for questions involving US persons.
The bill that passed the House on Wednesday included some reforms. As described by Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR), it would establish criminal penalties for intentional misuse of FISA 702 questions and falsification of statements in a FISA court, require the Justice Department to update procedures to allow members to attend court hearings, require preapproval of FBI attorneys for all FBI U.S. person questions, and mandate an independent audit on Section 702 procedures by the Government Accountability Office. The bill also included a completely unrelated provision preventing the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies. This provision, based on Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN)’s Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, was attached to the FISA reauthorization by Rep. French Hill (R-AR).
Privacy advocates disagree that the House bill goes far enough. Jake Leperuke, deputy director of the security and surveillance project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, called it “incredibly disappointing.”
“This bill is completely worthless. It has no warrant for Americans to question the messages, and offers no meaningful reforms of any kind,” Leperuke said.
Congress now has until June 14, 2026, to explore reforms to Section 702.
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