Surveillance Bill Passes Senate, Heads to Trump's Desk

The Senate passed a six-year reauthorization of intelligence agencies’ surveillance powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Thursday on a bipartisan 65-34 vote. The current authorization was set to expire at midnight Friday.

The legislation overcame a filibuster threat by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and others who wanted to see stronger privacy protections — including a warrant requirement before Section 702 databases can be searched for Americans’ information. Similar attempts to revise the bill were met with a similar fate when the House considered the bill.

The bill now goes to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law prior to Friday night’s deadline.

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— Eric Revell

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