Surveillance

Congress Should Be in No Rush To Renew FISA's Section 702 Surveillance Powers

It’s long past time to open federal surveillance powers to scrutiny and reform.

J.D. Tuccille | 6.15.2026 7:00 AM

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(Illustration: Midjourney/Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act/intel.gov/Capitol Building/Paul Hakimata/Dreamstime)

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the terrorism threat level is "the highest it's ever been" as he blamed Democrats in Congress for failing to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after a brief extension of life granted in April expired. He conceded there are other "ways that we can get to what we need to do, but it makes it significantly more difficult. We can cut through a lot of the bureaucracy with 702 and go after the terrorists that are trying to attack us every single day."

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But Republicans control both houses of Congress. While some political brinksmanship is in play over the choice of a new Director of National Intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard, so are continuing bipartisan concerns about the intrusiveness of Section 702, which lawmakers must periodically reauthorize.

Significant Privacy and Civil Liberties Risks

As the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) notes, "Section 702 is supposed to authorize collection of foreign intelligence from non-Americans located outside the United States….But as implemented, the law gives the intelligence community the ability to target foreign intelligence in ways that inherently and intentionally........

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