{"id":585480,"date":"2026-04-15T10:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/585480\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:11:11","slug":"trump-urges-extending-foreign-surveillance-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/585480\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump urges extending foreign surveillance program"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Congress is set to take up the reauthorization of a divisive program<\/a> that lets U.S. spy agencies pore over foreigners\u2019 calls, texts and emails, with supporters like President Donald Trump saying it has saved lives while critics point to longstanding concerns about warrantless surveillance of Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permits the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant. It incidentally sweeps up the conversations of any Americans who interact with those foreigners targeted for surveillance.<\/p>\n

The program expires<\/a> Monday, and critics want changes, including a requirement for warrants before authorities can access the emails, phone calls or text messages of Americans. They also want limits on the government\u2019s use of internet data brokers, who sell large volumes of personal information gleaned online, offering the government what critics say amounts to an end-run around the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Despite bipartisan criticism<\/a>, the chances of significant reforms dropped when Trump announced his support for the program\u2019s renewal, saying it had proven its worth in supplying information vital to recent U.S. actions in Venezuela<\/a> and Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our military,\u201d Trump said on social media Tuesday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump calls for another extension of the program<\/p>\n

U.S. authorities say the program, known as Section 702 of the law, is vital to national security<\/a> and has saved lives by uncovering terror plots. Critics question what they call a dangerous infringement on civil liberties and privacy.<\/p>\n

In a Truth Social post, Trump said a different FISA provision was used to spy on his 2016 campaign<\/a> but that he supported Section 702\u2019s renewal despite misgivings that political adversaries could use parts of the law against him in the future. He called on lawmakers to extend the foreign surveillance program for another 18 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy administration has worked tirelessly to ensure these FISA reforms are being aggressively executed at every level of the Executive Branch to keep Americans safe, while protecting our sacred Civil Liberties guaranteed by our Great Constitution,\u201d Trump wrote. <\/p>\n

Trump is a longtime critic of the nation\u2019s intelligence services and was once opposed to Section 702<\/a> before he reversed himself. \u201cKILL FISA\u201d Trump posted on social media in 2024, when the provision was last reauthorized<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump isn\u2019t the only one-time critic to change their mind: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sponsored legislation to repeal Section 702 as a Hawaii congresswoman but now supports it after being tapped to coordinate the nation\u2019s 18 intelligence agencies.<\/p>\n

Gabbard says new protections added since her time in Congress helped change her mind.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Sign up for Morning Wire:
\n Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day.\n <\/p>\n

Greater protections are sought<\/p>\n

for Americans\u2019 communications<\/p>\n

In addition to a requirement for a warrant to access Americans\u2019 data, critics also want greater protections on how the FBI<\/a> or other agencies can search communications and how that is reported to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalists, foreign aid workers, people with family overseas, all could have their communications swept up in this surveillance merely because they talked to someone outside of this country,\u201d said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The longtime critic of the law is pushing for changes that he said will ensure the government isn\u2019t violating civil rights in secret.<\/p>\n

Several Republicans also have suggested changes, such as the warrant requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cNational security and civil liberties are not mutually exclusive,\u201d said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. \u201cWe can give our intelligence professionals the tools they need to target foreign threats while ensuring that Americans are not subjected to unconstitutional surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabbard\u2019s office releases an annual report<\/a> showing the number of foreign surveillance targets and number of searches likely to identify an American.<\/p>\n

For 2025, the number of foreign surveillance targets increased to nearly 350,000 from almost 292,000 in 2024. Searches using terms likely to identify an American decreased slightly to 7,724 from 7,845 in 2024.<\/p>\n

The totals are incomplete because agencies like the FBI have found ways to access the data without reporting the searches publicly, said Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. <\/p>\n

FBI officials repeatedly violated their own standards<\/a> when searching for intelligence related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection<\/a> at the U.S. Capitol and racial justice protests in 2020<\/a>, according to a 2024 court order<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s reminiscent of J. Edgar Hoover\u2019s tenure at the FBI,\u201d Goitein said, referring to the FBI\u2019s founding director who used illegal surveillance to harass and spy on Americans. \u201cThey can pretty much target anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little time to make changes to the law<\/p>\n

Despite bipartisan concerns<\/a> about the law and its implications for civil liberties, time is running out for Congress to make any changes before Monday\u2019s expiration.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s support also reduces the odds that enough Republicans will break ranks and join Democrats to push for reforms.<\/p>\n

Wyden said Section 702 votes<\/a> are routinely delayed until the last minute, then lawmakers are told that national security demands they vote yes. Lawmakers are told, he said, that \u201cif they vote for any amendments, the program will die and terrible things will happen and it will be all their fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best chance for inserting changes likely is the House, where a large number of lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns. <\/p>\n

But Rep. Rick Crawford, an Arkansas Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, is backing Trump\u2019s call for an 18-month renewal. <\/p>\n

Crawford has taken aim in the past at what he calls the weaponization of intelligence but said last month that he believes the government can empower spy agencies while also holding them accountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can walk and chew gum at the same time,\u201d Crawford said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Congress is set to take up the reauthorization of a divisive program that lets U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,170254,1927,1340,12,793,787,69054,3075,801,228242,1576,5477,3,111,514,256267,48315,28387,795,3438,21,792,9291,19,22,20,25,24,18232,800],"class_list":{"0":"post-585480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-andy-biggs","10":"tag-ap-top-news","11":"tag-congress","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-government-programs","15":"tag-government-surveillance","16":"tag-human-rights","17":"tag-iran","18":"tag-iran-war","19":"tag-military-and-defense","20":"tag-national-security","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-privacy","24":"tag-rick-crawford","25":"tag-ron-wyden","26":"tag-u-s-federal-bureau-of-investigation","27":"tag-u-s-news","28":"tag-u-s-republican-party","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-united-states-government","31":"tag-united-states-house-of-representatives","32":"tag-united-states-of-america","33":"tag-unitedstates","34":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","35":"tag-us","36":"tag-usa","37":"tag-venezuela","38":"tag-washington-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}