Lawmakers have punted the battle to renew the nation's spy powers for 10 days, extending not only the deadline to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act but also the difficult discussions over how to reform it. The program allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad, but privacy hawks want to require a warrant before authorities can review any information collected on Americans speaking with those being surveilled.
The deadline to act is April 30. The remarkable failure of the House GOP to pass either a reform package brokered with the right wing or a straight reauthorization has forced the party into bipartisan discussions, and deadline concerns in the Senate have sparked discussions about moving the bill in that chamber first.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative and Republican lawmakers argue that requiring a warrant would cripple intelligence operations and that existing reforms already adequately protect Americans.
Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said discussions are at a standstill. 'We're in a stationary mode right now,' he said. He has advocated for extending the bill without a warrant requirement.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told reporters that requiring a warrant would 'literally shut the system down.' He equated it to making police officers get a warrant to run a license plate number. 'You're saying that you now need a warrant, not for the collection of evidence, but the querying of already lawfully collected data? That's crossing a Rubicon we've never crossed in the history of our country,' he said.
LaHood also argued that those seeking a warrant requirement are ignoring the 56 reforms passed when Section 702 was last reauthorized in 2024. 'Name me an instance, a case, a set of facts, egregious behavior, where two years later we needed that warrant, because nobody can name it,' he said.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus who wants a more stringent warrant requirement, said the intelligence community 'has never once walked into a room and said here's all our power. Let's give some back.' He added that those protecting individual rights understand they must balance stopping attacks with protecting people's rights.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive and Democratic lawmakers argue that requiring a warrant is essential to protect Americans' privacy rights, particularly given concerns about the potential for abuse under a Trump administration.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a proponent of a warrant requirement, said there are reasons for optimism. He pointed to a series of votes in the early hours of Friday morning, when 20 Republicans crossed the aisle to block a clean extension of Section 702. He noted that only four Democrats rejected reform, and many Democrats who were previously cautious are now saying they do not want Donald Trump to be in charge of surveillance without warrant protections.
Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said discussions have turned bipartisan. 'We may have had a little bit of a positive turn, because I think the two leaderships, the Speaker and the minority leader may be talking,' he said. 'It feels to me like the Republicans have thrown in the towel on hope for a rule, and so they're coming back, recognizing that this is a problem where there are lots of skeptics on both sides of the aisle.'
Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said there is a commanding majority in the chamber interested in protecting privacy rights and civil liberties while maintaining national security. 'We should be able to figure out a way to reconcile both of the values,' he said.
What the Numbers Show
The 2024 reauthorization included a package of 56 reforms, including provisions to shrink the pool of who could query the FISA database and require supervisor sign-off. A tech fix requiring agents to opt into searching the 702 database saw searches on Americans plummet from 2.9 million in 2022 to just more than 9,000 in the year after the last renewal.
In the Friday morning vote to block a clean extension of Section 702, 20 Republicans crossed the aisle while 4 Democrats crossed to advance it.
The Bottom Line
The path forward remains unclear, but a potential compromise may be taking shape. A proposal from Rep. Jim Himes would not require a probable cause warrant but would still require the intelligence community to go to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to demonstrate that querying information on Americans would be 'reasonably likely to return foreign intelligence information.'
Rep. Chip Roy said the Himes proposal is a 'good-faith effort' that adds valuable protections, though he would like to go further. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has proposed a more stringent warrant requirement with exceptions, and Roy suggested a landing spot may exist somewhere between the two proposals.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has said he could bring a FISA bill to the floor as soon as Thursday, though members involved in the talks said they had not seen the bill. With the April 30 deadline approaching, lawmakers have limited time to reach a deal that can pass both chambers.