Efforts to reauthorize the surveillance tool will resume on April 9.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which contains controversial spying powers, will be a focal point on Capitol Hill next week. The House will make its third attempt to reauthorize the program.
The House Rules Committee announced on April 5 that upon the return of members from their two-week recess, the panel will begin marking up a bill to reform and renew the tool before its authorization expires on April 19.
The meeting is scheduled to commence at 4 p.m. ET on April 9.
Differing viewpoints on the need for reforming the program led to competing bills from the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, both of which failed to secure enough support for passage in the House. As negotiations continued, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) temporarily extended the tool’s authorization through the National Defense Authorization Act.
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One notable absence in the legislation is the mandate for a warrant for searches of U.S. citizens, a point of contention for members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chairman of the Freedom Caucus, emphasized the importance of preventing government surveillance of citizens without a warrant, leading to the delay of the bill’s consideration.
Similar concerns have been echoed in the Senate, with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) denouncing warrantless surveillance of Americans as unconstitutional and un-American.
Despite some support for the bill’s reforms from the Biden administration, concerns remain about the lack of a warrant requirement for searches involving U.S. persons.
If passed, the bill would extend Section 702’s authorization for another five years.
Jackson Richman and Joseph Lord contributed to this report.
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