For months the White House, intelligence agencies and large elements of Congress have been united in emphasizing the need to reauthorize the government’s spying powers under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. There is substantially less unity, however, about what form reauthorization will take and which reforms will have enough support to pass through Congress.
Recent weeks have brought at least some clarity to the debate, with a trio of bills introduced in Congress to extend Section 702’s sunset date beyond Dec. 31. Each bill can be seen as a proxy for a different faction within the government: those in favor of a “clean” reauthorization, those who want to substantially overhaul the program and those who favor more-modest reforms.
