House Republicans Introduce 3-Year Section 702 Extension

House Republicans introduced legislation on April 23 to extend a key foreign surveillance authority for three years, renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act through April 30, 2029. The nine-page bill, released by the House Rules Committee, comes as Congress races to act before a short-term extension of the program expires on April 30.

Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications from non-U.S. persons located abroad without a warrant, targeting potential national security threats. While the program focuses on foreigners, it can incidentally capture Americans' communications when they interact with those targets. The proposed bill does not require warrants for querying this incidental data involving U.S. persons, a reform sought by lawmakers across party lines to protect privacy rights. Instead, it includes oversight measures, such as a mandate for the comptroller general to conduct an audit within one year of enactment. The audit would assess whether targeting procedures adequately limit surveillance and report findings to congressional judiciary and intelligence committees. The legislation also explicitly bans the intentional...