> Don’t put Section 702 spying law renewal in defense bill, groups urge Hill leaders

It would be a “betrayal of the democratic process” if Congress included a straightforward renewal of a controversial lapsed surveillance law in the annual defense policy bill, a collection of civil liberties groups wrote to Hill leaders Thursday. Lawmakers weren’t able to agree this summer to a long-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, under which the government can use Americans’ personal information without a warrant to search for their communications with foreign targets. A court has authorized such searches through March despite the law’s lapse. Congress in 2023 authorized a short-term extension of Section 702 through the annual, “must-pass” National Defense Authorization Act in a move protested by civil liberties groups and some lawmakers at the time. The 27 groups on Thursday said it would be a mistake to do it again without a warrant requirement for U.S. person searches, something long sought by civil liberties advocates, including a significant contingent of Congress. “The NDAA is among the most important bills Congress considers each year. It should not be used as a vehicle to circumvent or to cut short this long-running bipartisan debate over Americans’ civil liberties and constitutional rights, nor to force lawmakers to choose between supporting our national defense and ending warrantless spying on Americans,” they wrote in a letter led by Demand Progress and first reported by CyberScoop. “Adding language in the NDAA conference to reauthorize Section 702 that has not been fully debated and voted on would be a serious procedural and substantive failure, and a betrayal of the democratic process.” One of the leading advocates of renewing Section 702, top House Intelligence Committee Democrat Jim Himes, D-Conn., told The Hill in a story that published Thursday that Congress needs to pass a reauthorization in the lame-duck session currently underway. Democrats are about to take over the House and Senate after November’s elections, and they might be inclined to further limit the law beyond what the Trump administration would like. “I made it clear to some very senior administration officials that they should get this thing done in the lame duck because it’s, you know, it’s going to be a very different 702 that gets reauthorized in the first quarter of next year, and, you know, I think they heard the message,” Himes told The Hill. “And I wasn’t even saying that’s good or bad,” he continued. “I’m just saying it’s a political reality that the 702 that gets reauthorized with a Democratic House and Senate is going to be a very different 702 that gets reauthorized in the lame duck.” The groups that sent Thursday’s letter instead counseled patience. “Claims that Congress must immediately accept reauthorization without a warrant requirement or risk losing critical foreign intelligence capabilities present a false choice and are just another scare tactic to pressure members into supporting reauthorization without reforms,” they wrote. “Including even a short-term reauthorization of Section 702 in any must-pass bill is unnecessary and would stifle critical reform efforts that have broad bipartisan support in Congress and with the public.” The post Don’t put Section 702 spying law renewal in defense bill, groups urge Hill leaders appeared first on CyberScoop.