FISA Section 702 Isn’t Broken. Why Are We Still Trying to Fix It?

(Glenn S. Gerstell – Lawfare) Once again, the United States is days away from the expiration of the nation’s most important foreign intelligence tool—and we’re once more trapped in a familiar cycle: partisan gridlock, time pressure, and a collection of misleading claims. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which authorizes U.S. spy agencies to collect information about foreign terrorists, authoritarian regimes, and other foreign intelligence targets, expires on April 20. And this time around, the politics of reauthorization are even messier than usual. Adopted on a temporary basis in 2008 with bipartisan support, the statute has been extended several times with generally declining majorities—facing opposition at various points from libertarians, anti-deep-state Republicans, leftists worried about surveillance powers, and others. – FISA Section 702 Isn’t Broken. Why Are We Still Trying to Fix It? | Lawfare