As the House considers a reauthorization of a prominent surveillance program, its members have argued over when warrants should be required for searches. The lower of chamber of Congress is set to vote on these warrant requirements Wednesday, December 6, 2023.
From POLITICO. The House Judiciary Committee is set to unveil its bid to revise a controversial surveillance program that’s set to expire in just a few weeks.
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The new legislation would require a warrant to search for any American’s information under Section 702, according to draft text obtained by POLITICO, which is meant to target foreigners abroad but in the process sweeps in citizens’ communications. The current program does not require a warrant when that occurs.
The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on that bill Wednesday …
Congress has until the end of the year to reauthorize Section 702. Congressional leaders have attached a short-term extension until Feb. 2 to a sweeping defense policy bill, three people familiar with the decision told POLITICO, though they cautioned that until text is finalized House GOP opposition to linking the two could mean it gets stripped out. …
The Judiciary bill would require a warrant for U.S person searches under the surveillance authority. But the warrant requirement has exceptions built in, including for “emergency situations,” if an individual has consented to the search or some cybersecurity-related searches. …
The bill’s warrant requirement is significantly broader than a forthcoming bill from the Intelligence Committee, which is expected to only require a warrant in the case of “evidence of a crime” searches, which are not related to foreign intelligence and make up only a small slice of searches.
The intelligence community, and its allies on Capitol Hill, have warned that a broader warrant requirement like the one in the Judiciary bill would make the surveillance authority unworkable and undermine a critical national security resource. …
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(Excerpt from POLITICO. Photo Credit: Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash)