WASHINGTON — Senior Biden administration officials urged Congress to renew a warrantless surveillance program that expires later this year, calling it a “key intelligence authority.”
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote to the Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate on Tuesday to argue for the extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires on Dec. 31 unless Congress votes to renew it.
Section 702 “has been a critical authority for the Intelligence Community and Department of Justice,” they wrote. The letter outlines the ways in the intelligence community believes that Section 702 has helped to mitigate dangers, from ransomware attacks to threats from weapons of mass destruction and risks from foreign espionage.
Haines and Garland said they would provide Congress with details of steps they have taken to strengthen compliance with “privacy and civil liberties safeguards.”
Section 702, which permits the government to conduct surveillance against foreign persons and compels electronic communication service providers to help, has long been opposed by privacy advocates because it sweeps up Americans’ messages alongside those of foreign targets.
The U.S. intelligence community last year revealed the FBI turned to the communications trove to make searches about Americans as many as 3.4 million times in 2021, up from 1.3 million in 2020.
The administration is likely to face resistance from longstanding critics of the approach in Congress again this year. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are rallying to demand reforms given revelations about the program’s use and abuse. The pushback is fueled in part by Republican zeal to take on the federal government following the party’s midterm victory in the House, which already includes a deluge of complaints against the FBI on other issues including its investigations of former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Representative Mike Turner, the Ohio Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee, said in a tweet that the FBI and others in intelligence agencies “have abused” the powers in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which includes Section 702 authority. He said FISA “is a critical tool in our national security arsenal” and that he supports extending it, “but with reforms that will protect America’s civil liberties.”
The American Civil Liberties Union is urging Americans to write their representatives in Congress, urging them to vote “no” on the renewal, arguing that “we all deserve to use the internet without fear of being monitored by the government.”
Senior officials from Office of the Director of National Intelligence who asked not to be identified discussing intelligence matters told reporters that Haines and Garland’s letter marks the beginning of a campaign to make the case for 702 renewal.
The officials said that the administration plans to highlight the provision’s value against threats including China, North Korea and ransomware, as well its earlier counterterrorism aims.
Other senior officials also made the case on Tuesday. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan issued a statement describing it as a “cornerstone” of U.S. national security, while Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen outlined the administration’s position in a speech to the Brookings Institution.
“If 702 expires or is watered down, the United States will lose critical insights we need to protect the country,” Olsen said.
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(Bloomberg News writers Katrina Manson and Roxana Tiron contributed to this story.)
