IN-DEPTH: Lawmakers Split on Surveillance Authority Reauthorization Amid DOJ, FBI Abuses

Lawmakers are split on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a broad post-9/11 surveillance authority, in the light of a string of abuses of the apparatus against American citizens.

The United States flag at the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on May 12, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Lawmakers are split on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a broad post-9/11 surveillance authority, in the light of a string of abuses of the apparatus against American citizens.

Limited authority to gather foreign intelligence information is granted by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a post-9/11 surveillance tool that gives U.S. intelligence the power to target “(i) non-U.S. persons (ii) who are reasonably believed to be outside of the United States (iii) to acquire foreign intelligence information.”