A cornerstone of US intelligence gathering used to thwart terror attacks has lapsed after political divisions and President Donald Trump’s new spy chief upended negotiations on Capitol Hill.
The government’s key spy powers have expired after Congress failed to approve another short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The powerful surveillance law allows US officials to monitor phone calls and text messages from foreign targets, but – controversially – it can also scoop up the data of Americans in the process.
That authority was already on the road to expiration Thursday after the House and Senate left town without taking action ahead of the Friday night deadline. Asked why the House would leave Washington as scheduled without extending the authority, House Speaker Mike Johnson blasted Democrats, saying: “What more can I do?”
The deadline to renew the program troubled US national security officials, who have had to scramble to blunt the potential for blind spots in intelligence collection each time Congress has failed to find a long-term solution.
The negotiations in Congress to renew the powerful surveillance law had been on thin ice for months, as Republicans on Capitol Hill searched for a path forward to reauthorize the legislation. Lawmakers had only secured a dwindling temporary 45-day patch and had most recently sought another short-term extension.
