Court Recertifies Section 702 Program Through 2027

The Trump administration disclosed on Friday that a federal intelligence court has recertified a key warrantless surveillance program under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allowing it to continue operating through March 2027 despite the underlying law facing expiration on April 20. The ruling, issued on March 17 by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, came as Congress debates whether to extend the authority without changes or impose new restrictions to protect Americans' privacy.

Section 702, enacted in 2008 to legalize post-September 11 surveillance practices, permits the National Security Agency to compel U.S. providers such as Google and AT&T to hand over communications of targeted foreigners located abroad, without a warrant. This collection often captures Americans' messages incidentally when they interact with those targets. Agencies including the CIA, FBI, and NSA can then query the resulting databases for foreign intelligence purposes. In 2025, the program targeted 349,823 foreigners, an increase from 291,824 the previous year, according to declassified data.

To bolster support for a clean extension, the CIA released a fact sheet...