US Congress passes short-term renewal of Fisa warrantless spying powers
Source: The Guardian
Thu 30 Apr 2026 16.57 EDT
Last modified on Thu 30 Apr 2026 16.59 EDT
The US Congress has passed a 45-day extension of a law that grants US intelligence agencies warrantless spying powers. Bitter infighting over section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the Republican wing of Congress has repeatedly tanked conservative leaders’ plans to renew the controversial surveillance law for multiple years. The deadlock continued on Thursday, as the Republican House speaker Mike Johnson refused to include key reforms pushed by hardliners in his party and progressive Democrats.
In remarks before a final vote in the House, lawmakers opposed to a long-term extension of section 702 again called on Johnson to consider their concerns about how the surveillance program is abused to spy on Americans. “We’re willing to give you 45 more days for us to negotiate this thing if the Speaker will actually sit down with us,” said US congressman Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, who has rallied against an extension of the program with no changes. “We can make this happen if we’re willing to get rid of all the chaos and the pandemonium we’ve seen over the last several days and simply sit down and have a meaningful conversation and write the legislation.”
Hardline Republicans across the aisle who took issue with section 702 welcomed Raskin’s remarks as they too expressed their fears about how the program surveils Americans’ communications. “Fisa databases have been used to query political activists, members of Congress and their staff, random romantic interests of FBI agents, and we’re being told, ‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s not being abused any more,” said Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky.
The contentious vote marks the second time this month that Congress’s inability to agree on Fisa’s renewal has led to a short-term extension. The law expires without being reauthorized; the most imminent deadline was midnight on Thursday. Section 702 was originally set to lapse on 20 April, but Congress passed a stopgap measure to extend the surveillance program by 10 days after disagreements over an extension with no substantive changes. The decision to punt the issue a few weeks suggests those differences are unlikely to be resolved soon.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/fisa-warrantless-spying-renewal-congress
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143658827
Both chambers have now passed the 45-day extension and the "I won't sign any legislation unless SAVE is passed" will probably sign it.
The House is scheduled AGAIN to be in recess starting tomorrow (May 1) and all next week.
