House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday released a revised proposal to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for three years after earlier renewal efforts failed. The plan keeps the program’s current structure — including no new warrant requirement for FBI searches of Americans’ communications collected under the authority — while adding reporting and other oversight provisions as the April 30 expiration date approaches.
Building on weeks of House turmoil over renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., unveiled a revised bill on Thursday that would extend the surveillance authority for three years.
Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to intercept electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside the United States. Some of the roughly 350,000 foreign targets whose communications are collected under the law are in contact with Americans, which can result in Americans’ calls, texts and emails being swept into the database.
The central dispute in Congress has been whether to require a judge’s approval before federal law enforcement conducts a targeted review of an American’s information collected under the program. Johnson’s latest proposal does not add such a warrant requirement. Instead, it would require the FBI to submit monthly explanations for reviews of Americans’ information to an oversight official and would create criminal penalties for willful abuse, among other changes.
Glenn Gerstell, a former general counsel at the National Security Agency, described the revisions as largely limited but framed them as an attempt to strike a middle ground for lawmakers concerned about civil liberties.
President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to renew the authority without changes in a Truth Social post last week, arguing it is needed to protect U.S. troops and the country from foreign terrorist threats.
Civil-liberties advocates criticized the bill as insufficient. Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program, wrote on X that the proposal amounts to a straight reauthorization with language she said is designed to make it appear otherwise.
Democrats also raised concerns about oversight. NPR reported that Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., circulated a memo urging colleagues to oppose the bill, arguing it continues relying on the FBI to police and report its own abuses and would still allow agents to collect and review Americans’ communications without a judge’s review.
Johnson’s plan also faces skepticism from some Republican hardliners. Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, a past chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said in a video posted to X on Thursday that the measure still falls short of the accountability he wants.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told NPR on Wednesday — before Johnson’s proposal was released — that lawmakers were working toward a bipartisan approach and that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was in touch with Johnson.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Monday morning, a first step toward bringing the legislation to the House floor. Under current law, the Section 702 authority is set to expire on April 30.
