After hours of deadlock, on Friday evening, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reached an agreement to hold a vote on a series of amendments for a House-approved bill that aims to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) warrantless surveillance program. This development puts the bill on track to pass before the midnight cutoff.
The controversial Section 702 of FISA, which granted expanded surveillance powers, was set to expire on Friday. It seemed likely that the powers would lapse as senators debated a set of amendments. These changes would include the requirement of warrants to review the communications of Americans caught in the FISA database, among other revisions.
“We are pleased to announce a positive development for America’s national security. Senators have come to an agreement that paves the way for the approval of FISA reauthorization tonight,” Schumer declared on the Senate floor.
The bill has been revised to extend the program for a duration of two years, instead of the originally proposed five years, as Senate and House leaders had initially intended. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) made the decision to reduce the length of the reauthorization by three years in order to address the concerns of conservative critics within his conference.
Senators expressed doubt earlier in the day about the likelihood of reaching a deal.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Intelligence Committee, cautioned on Friday afternoon about the possibility of going dark over the weekend.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is leading the effort to require warrants for any review of Americans’ communications gathered in the 702 database, stated that he had not been approached about a possible agreement on amendments.
Shortly after Schumer announced the deal, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) took to the floor and urged colleagues to vote against any amendments to the bill.
Making changes at this late stage, he cautioned, would necessitate sending the bill back to the lower chamber. Unfortunately, this would render it impossible for the bill to become law before the deadline.
According to him, making any changes to this bill right now would essentially be sabotaging its progress. He further mentioned that several telecom companies have already reached out to the Department of Justice, expressing their decision to cease their cooperation with Section 702 if the bill expires at midnight.
