03/18/2024

Sinking U.S. Wiretap Program Offered One Last Lifeboat

For months, lawmakers have examined every side of a historic surveillance debate

A bill introduced by Senators Dick Durbin and Mike Lee to re-authorize the Section 702 surveillance program is the fifth introduced in the U.S. Congress this winter. The authority is threatening to expire in a month, disrupting a global wiretapping program said to inform a third of articles in the President's Daily Briefing—a morning “tour d’horizon” of U.S. spies' top concerns.

But the stakes aren't exactly so clear. With or without Congress, the Biden administration is seeking court approval to extend the 702 program into 2025. From the moment U.S. Representative Mike Johnson assumed the House speakership, he’s been unable to orchestrate a vote on the program. Outgunned most recently by Mike Turner, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Johnson was forced to kill a vote after a month of negotiations.

This, even though Congress can essentially agree on one thing if nothing else: that the 702 program is vital to the national defense and that it cannot be allowed to expire. Johnson has, once again, vowed to hold a vote on the matter, this time after Easter. And historically, this is where things have begun to fall apart.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.