FISA Section 702 Lapsed in June, but Collection Runs to March 2027 Under Court-Approved Certifications

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expired at midnight on 12 June 2026. Congress had extended it twice in short bursts that spring and then failed to agree on a longer renewal. It was the first time the programme’s legal authority had lapsed since it was created in 2008.

The surveillance hasn’t stopped. In March 2026 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved a new set of yearly certifications, which tell the government what categories of foreign intelligence it may collect. Under the statute, collection continues under approved certifications until they expire, on 17 March 2027.

How it lapsed

The 2024 reauthorisation, RISAA, set an expiry of 20 April 2026. Congress passed a ten-day extension, then a 45-day one to 12 June.

In between, on 29 April, the House passed a three-year renewal by 235 to 191. It added criminal penalties for improper searches, required attorney approval for some queries and gave Congress more access to the FISA court. It didn’t include a warrant requirement for searches of Americans’ communications, which privacy advocates in both parties wanted. It also carried an unrelated ban on a central bank digital currency, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune said was “not happening.”

On 5 June the Senate failed to open debate on a long-term bill, 47 to 52. Seven Republicans voted no, including Josh Hawley, Mike Lee and Rand Paul. On 11 June the House rejected a three-week extension, 198 to 218. Democratic opposition had hardened after the President named Bill Pulte, the housing finance regulator, as acting director of national intelligence.

What 702 does

Section 702 allows the NSA, CIA and FBI to collect communications of foreigners outside the US from American tech and telecom companies without an individual warrant. Communications of Americans who are in contact with those targets get swept in. The FBI can then search that data for information about Americans, which is what the warrant debate is about.

Intelligence officials call it among their most valuable tools. A large share of items in the President’s Daily Brief has drawn on 702 data in past years, according to the intelligence community.

The deadlines that matter

The director of national intelligence has reportedly told Congress that collection could “go dark” without a clean reauthorisation by 20 November 2026. Critics say that date is meant to pressure the lame duck, because the certifications run to March.

There’s also a transparency fight. A FISA court opinion from March found serious problems with the filtering tools agencies use when they search for Americans’ information. The law required it to be declassified within 180 days. That deadline passed on 13 September, and the opinion hasn’t been released. Another FISA court opinion published in April showed further FBI query violations.

What’s next

The fight now moves to the lame duck and the new Congress. The House has shown it can pass a renewal without a warrant requirement, barely. The Senate hasn’t found 60 votes for any version. If November changes control of either chamber, the warrant requirement gains supporters.

The longer the gap, the more the government relies on the certifications, which no one designed as a bridge. And companies that provide the data may grow cautious about cooperating without a current statute behind the requests. Allies who depend on US intelligence, covered in our post on the Five Eyes, are watching the same deadline.