White House to meet with GOP lawmakers on FISA Section 702 renewal

Top Trump administration officials will meet with key Republican lawmakers later today about a possible path forward to renewing a major U.S. national security surveillance power that is slated to go dark in April, Recorded Future News has learned.

White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles and top intelligence and military officials will convene in the Situation Room with GOP Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Rick Crawford (AR), the chairs of the House Judiciary and Intelligence panels, according to multiple sources familiar with the upcoming session.

The meeting is also expected to be attended by top presidential aide Stephen Miller, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine. 

“The president, several of his top advisers, and lawmakers will be participating in a discussion at the White House today about FISA Section 702 renewal,” according to a senior White House official. 

“As always, the President is the final decision-maker on policy matters.”

Spokespersons for Jordan and Crawford did not respond to requests for comment. 

The high-level meeting comes just weeks before Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which enables broad electronic surveillance of the communications of overseas national security threats, such as terrorists and foreign spies, is set to expire.

The foreign spying tool is considered essential to national security by intelligence officials, however a wide range of progressive and conservative lawmakers have resented the program as it allows some Americans’ private data to be collected and searched without a warrant.

Congress barely managed to reauthorize it for two more years in 2024, overcoming last-minute objections by then former President Donald Trump, who has long claimed, without evidence, that it was used to spy on his 2016 presidential campaign.

Despite the turbulent history, the White House is now seeking a “clean” reauthorization of 18 months or three years, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the strategy.

That could be a non-starter with Jordan, one of the president’s chief congressional allies, whose panel overwhelmingly approved legislation during the last renewal fight that would have required all U.S. intelligence agencies to obtain a court warrant before searching the vast 702 database. The proposal failed in a 212-212 tie vote on the House floor.

Jordan has petitioned the White House for a meeting on FISA for weeks, according to sources, while Crawford has largely ceded negotiations to the Ohio Republican.

These same sources said it is notable that the session features Wiles — though Trump may attend, possibly with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the national security adviser and a former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

They speculated Jordan would push the White House for more time to craft a bill before coming out for a straight-up renewal, which, if endorsed by Trump, would likely be muscled through the GOP-controlled Congress.

The White House gathering also comes as Jordan’s committee has begun working on a bipartisan bill to extend 702, according to Capitol Hill sources, making it the first congressional panel with jurisdiction over the surveillance tool to put pen-to-paper on a renewal.

Republican senators, most of whom strongly support the statute, are waiting on a sign from the White House before moving forward on legislation.