Unpacking the FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill

As another sunset of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702 authorities looms, the House of Representatives has passed a compromise bill, the "Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act," H.R. 7888 (RISAA), which the Senate is now considering.

The bill would reauthorize Section 702 – the controversial law that allows the U.S. government to acquire communications of non-Americans outside the United States without a warrant – and make a range of changes to FISA overall. It has something to interest everyone, from addressing the use of U.S. person query terms to formalizing oversight measures to a technical expansion of the type of service provider that can be compelled to help the U.S. government acquire communications. The changes are a combination of direct responses to legislative gaps and real or perceived Executive Branch transgressions, codifying existing practices, and updating FISA in ways that are evolutionary, but not radical. Taken together, they appear to reflect deep dissatisfaction with how the Executive Branch has implemented aspects of FISA, paired with a recognition of the need to permit essential national security operations to continue under the supervision of all three branches of government.