Section 702 surveillance authority expires at midnight Saturday

M. Saturday unless Congress passes an extension before then. The authority allows the government to collect electronic communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant.

President Trump selected Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve temporarily as director of national intelligence. Democrats have opposed extending Section 702 since that announcement, citing Pulte's lack of national security experience and prior efforts targeting political opponents on mortgage-fraud allegations.

Congressional intelligence committees report that about 60 percent of the president's daily intelligence briefing comes from information gathered under Section 702.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has already recertified the program through March. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said this week that "Section 702 will not go dark" and that existing authorities "will be positive and enforceable" until the recertification expires next year.

Rep. " Sen. " Warner also noted that major communications companies threatened to stop cooperating with the program in 2024 before Congress renewed it for two years. The House failed to pass a short-term extension, with 19 Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

Rep. Keith Self, one of the Republicans who voted no, said "FISA isn't going dark" and pointed to the 2008 precedent. The House is not scheduled to return to Washington until June 23. Legal experts note that a 2008 lapse of the preceding statute led the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to order Yahoo to comply with an existing directive, and Congress later strengthened the grandfathering provision.

Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program, said the current grandfathering clause makes clear that existing certifications and directives remain in force until their expiration dates even if Section 702 lapses.