The controversial spying powers embedded in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will take center stage on Capitol Hill next week as the House tries for a third time to reauthorize the program.
The House Rules Committee announced on April 5 that upon members’ return from their two-week recess, the panel will begin marking up a bill to reform and renew the tool before its authorization expires on April 19.
The meeting will start at 4 p.m. ET on April 9.
Last authorized in 2018, Section 702 was meant to allow the warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals located outside the United States, though U.S. citizens’ communications have often been swept up in the process. That loophole has allowed for the tool’s rampant abuse in recent years by agents at the FBI, who used it to query the names of Black Lives Matter and Jan. 6 protesters, among other Americans….