House approves spy program on second attempt, Senate fate murky

The House on Wednesday voted to renew a law that allows the government to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreigners, though its fate in the Senate is unclear.

The bill, which passed 235-191, would renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for three years. It allows U.S. intelligence agencies to retain spying powers privacy hawks and libertarians have long tried to rein in, but that national security officials argue are critical to the country’s fight against cyberattacks and other foreign threats.

The extension now heads to the Senate, one day before the authority is set to expire. 

Senate GOP leaders have publicly indicated they won’t support the House bill after a permanent ban on the Federal Reserve’s ability to issue a digital currency was hitched to the legislation in a bid to win over ultra-right conservatives.

Senators may pass their own version of a Section 702 renewal, sending it back to the House mere hours before the deadline.

The Trump administration initially wanted a “clean” 18-month reauthorization, a move which was quickly backed by congressional Republicans. But a handful of conservatives opposed the effort, sinking a renewal vote earlier this month and dragging out negotiations for weeks.

GOP leaders ultimately agreed to include more Fourth Amendment safeguards and tougher penalties for privacy violations to win over many holdouts.

“While no one in Washington can get 100% of what they want all the time, this bill makes measurable reforms to strengthen oversight and accountability, while maintaining the criticality of this national security tool,” House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford (R-AR) said in a statement. He also called on the Senate to support the bill

Jake Laperruque, deputy director for the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project, said it was “incredibly disappointing the House approved this measure.”

“This bill is empty-calories through and through. It contains no warrant for querying Americans’ messages, and no meaningful reforms of any kind,” he added. “There is nothing in this bill that would have prevented the abuses of FISA 702 we’ve already seen … and there is nothing that would stop even worse abuses in the future.”