Congress Fails to Pass Long-Term ‘Clean’ FISA Reauthorization
Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, both the Senate and House unanimously passed a stopgap 45-day extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This measure buys more time to negotiate for a FISA renewal with actual privacy reforms. This also marks yet another defeat for everyone trying to sneak through a reauthorization without reforms like House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and the White House. Demand Progress is part of a bipartisan coalition of privacy advocates in Congress and across the nation demanding reforms to FISA such as a warrant requirement to close the backdoor search and data broker loopholes.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Hajar Hammado:
“Intelligence agencies, the White House and their allies in Congress have tried every trick in the book from fearmongering to misinformation, but they still can’t get their warrantless FISA reauthorization across the finish line. The reason we keep ending up at this point is congressional leaders’ refusal to allow votes on overwhelmingly popular, bipartisan reforms. This ‘my way or the highway’ approach needs to stop. When Congress returns, Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune must allow votes on amendments for real privacy protections or we’ll keep repeating this farce over and over again. Our bipartisan movement in defense of civil liberties is holding strong, and we won’t accept anything less.”