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Controversial US surveillance program (briefly?) lapses amid congressional dysfunction
Section 720 of FISA expired at midnight, but the Senate has now voted to reauthorize.
We’ve had five years to renew this!” In his colleagues’ defense, the House had three failed votes on Section 702 before it was finally able to send its bill to the other chamber, leaving the Senate with barely a few days before the FISA sunset for its own proceedings. With two hours to go before Section 702’s expiration,the so-called act of unilateral disarmament in the face of the Chinese Communist Party, the senators then took a five-minute interlude to congratulate Susan Collins for making her 9000th roll call vote. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced an amendment that would have struck languagein the House bill that expanded the definition of “electronic communications service provider.” Under the House’s new provision, anyone “who has access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications.” The expansion, Wyden has claimed, would force “ordinary Americans and small businesses to conduct secret, warrantless spying.” The Wyden-Hawley amendment failed 34-58, meaning that the next iteration of the FISA surveillance program will be more expansive than before.
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