Trump admin to brief House on warrantless surveillance, Section 702, set to expire in April: report

The Trump administration will hold a classified briefing Wednesday for House members on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire next month, according to a report.

The law permits the warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad and has drawn scrutiny over the potential to sweep up information on Americans in the process.

Two anonymous sources told POLITICO about the briefing. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to hold a vote on an 18-month reauthorization of the surveillance next week, ahead of its April 20 expiration. The Louisiana lawmaker may have difficulty passing the reauthorization because GOP hardliners want changes to the law and to attach it to the contentious voter ID law known as the SAVE America Act.

House Republican leaders argue that the national security implications of reauthorizing the law are more important now, given President Trump’s decision to strike Iran and the threats posed amid the expanding war in the Middle East.

The 18-month extension will likely be sent directly to the House floor next week, without action first in the House Intelligence Committee, according to the two unnamed sources and Committee Chairman Rick Crawford.