The House and Senate on Friday approved a short-term extensive of a section of federal law that allows the warrantless surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence, though a renewal beyond the end of this month remains in jeopardy.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1973 was set to expire on Monday and allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans. Friday’s votes extend the program to April 30.
The short-term extension advanced out of the House only after GOP hardliners spiked separate five-year and 18-moth proposals to extend the program in the early hours of Friday morning.
Supporters argue the warrantless surveillance program is an invaluable tool in protecting U.S. interests and thwarting potential threats. The CIA said this month that it helped to thwart a planned terrorist attack at a 2024 Taylor Swift concert in Austria.
But an extension without changes to the program is widely opposed by many GOP hardliners and by some Democrats, like Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who briefly held up the short term extension on Friday but relented in the hopes of striking a deal to more substantially change the surveillance program.
