Attempts to overhaul the government’s chief spy tool will wait until next year, the Senate’s top lawmakers said Thursday.
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a joint statement that Congress needs more time “to negotiate a final bill” to overhaul Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows collection of massive amounts of electronic data.
Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, and Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said they want to see something pass “early next year,” but in the meantime they will move to extend the current program, which is slated to expire at the end of this month unless Congress acts.
“Reforming FISA authorities to prevent abuse while ensuring our ability to defend our nation is a shared bipartisan, bicameral priority,” they said.
The likely vehicle will be an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, which Mr. Schumer said has now been hammered out between the House and Senate and will be voted on next week.
Section 702 authorizes collection of communications of targeted non-Americans living abroad, though it allows Americans’ communications to be scooped up in that. Critics say the danger comes when U.S. intelligence officials then troll through the data looking for dirt on Americans without having to get a warrant.
A left-right coalition has emerged demanding major changes, including a standing warrant requirement when the FBI wants to use an American’s identity to query the data.
The House Judiciary Committee voted this week in favor of a bill with a warrant requirement with limited exceptions for a cybersecurity threat or imminent danger of harm.
But other lawmakers, particularly those on the defense and intelligence committees, are working on less sprawling changes, warning that too much could undermine the power of Section 702, which is the government’s chief snooping authority and produces an outsized portion of the intelligence that the president sees every day.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray also warned senators this week against big changes, saying a warrant is too cumbersome to get when agents are pursuing a hot lead.
“The reality is the whole reason we have 702 focused on foreign threats from overseas is to protect America from those threats,” Mr. Wray told the Judiciary Committee.
He said it’s good for sniffing out terrorist plots but also for spotting cyberattacks or trying to track fentanyl smuggling.
Mr. Wray said he’s made changes to cut down on abuses that all sides agree had happened in the past with the program and there’s now a 98% compliance rate.
But Sen. Mike Lee said that wasn’t much comfort. For one thing, he said, Mr. Wray won’t even share the specific changes he’s made, and every time the administration promises it has addressed problems in the program, new abuses arise.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.