Senate faces potential expiration of FISA spy law due to privacy worries
The Senate is facing a potential lapse in a controversial spy law as lawmakers express concerns over government surveillance expansion. Despite initial House approval with minor reforms, bipartisan efforts are underway to enhance privacy protections. As the deadline looms, negotiations continue in the Senate, with hurdles to resolve before the impending expiration of Section 702 authorities. The Senate is grappling with the risk of a lapse in a contentious spy law amid worries about government surveillance expansion. Despite the House’s initial approval with slight amendments, bipartisan actions are in progress to bolster privacy safeguards. With the deadline near, Senate negotiations persist to address challenges before the looming expiration of Section 702 authorizations.
The Senate is flirting with a temporary lapse in a controversial spy law as a bipartisan coalition of senators protest what they say is an unconstitutional expansion of the government’s surveillance powers.
The bill, which would extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for another two years, passed the House last week with modest reforms geared toward transparency and preventing abuse.
But privacy-minded lawmakers in both parties have sought to amend the legislation to include, among other things, safeguards on U.S. data caught up in foreign surveillance. Watchdogs have also raised alarm over a new provision they warn could drastically expand the types of service providers required to cooperate with surveillance requests.
The Senate easily cleared a procedural vote on Thursday, signaling the law has the votes to pass. But the authorities for Section 702 will expire at midnight on Friday unless leadership reaches a deal to fast-track the final vote.
“We are still trying to see if there’s a path to getting this bill done quickly, but disagreements remain on how to proceed,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said from the Senate floor on Friday.
He instructed his colleagues to stay in Washington through the weekend “if necessary” as leadership negotiates over a list of possible amendment votes.
“The work is not done, so we are going to keep at it,” he said.
An unorthodox bloc of senators has banded together to oppose the legislation. Thirty-two members, ranging from conservatives such as Mike Lee (R-UT) to liberals such as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), voted against the test vote on Thursday.
The impasse largely mirrors the debate in the House. National security hawks warn that even a temporary lapse in the government’s spy powers could put America’s safety at risk. Meanwhile, the bill’s opponents say they are being jammed with the last-minute vote.
“They have contrived the very deadline that they are now trying to use as leverage to manipulate our votes,” Lee complained in a Thursday floor speech.
The secret court that oversees FISA extended the government’s spy powers for another year earlier this month, so the program will not shut down if the Friday deadline is missed. But the Biden administration has warned there could be challenges, both practical and legal, if the law itself is not reauthorized immediately.
The demand for changes has powerful backers. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who whips votes for Schumer, filed an amendment on Thursday to require the government to obtain a court order if it wants to query the data of U.S. citizens swept up in foreign surveillance.
A separate amendment would similarly require a warrant for the government to purchase information on Americans from third-party data brokers. The House passed that requirement on Wednesday, but the vote was split off from the FISA reauthorization.
In theory, Schumer could allow the amendments to come up for a vote, but the fear is some could actually pass. The House would then need to vote on the revised legislation, delaying the timeline further. The Biden administration is opposed to additional changes.
It’s entirely possible some of the law’s biggest critics won’t consent to fast-tracking the legislation, no matter the votes allowed, meaning the holdup could last through the weekend. The final vote would then occur at the start of next week.
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If the Senate stays in session, Schumer announced members would begin considering the $95 billion in foreign aid the House is expected to approve on Saturday.
“If the House sends us a supplemental package, the Senate will move expeditiously to send it to the president’s desk,” he said, the latest sign that next week’s planned recess will also be canceled.
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