Lawmakers Won’t Stop Singing Praises Of Fed’s Favorite Warrantless Spying Tool

Lawmakers continued pushing Wednesday for the reauthorization of a warrantless spying tool that allows the government to spy on Americans’ data.

Senators appeared frustrated over President Donald Trump’s call to delay U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton’s confirmation hearing to be the next director of national intelligence (DNI), repeatedly stating that Trump added more guardrails to getting Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) passed. Opponents of Section 702 have simply demanded that a warrant requirement be added in exchange for voting to pass it.

Section 702, which expired Friday, allows the government to collect and search American citizens’ data without a warrant if they were in contact with targeted noncitizens located outside of the U.S.

At a Tuesday Senate press gaggle, Senate Majority Leader John Thune called on Clayton to be swiftly confirmed so Section 702 could be reauthorized.

“I hope the [Democrats] will waive that for this and allow us to get this done, because I think that also unlocks the 702 process,” Thune said at the gaggle attended by the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As most of you know, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 702 program is the most successful tool when it comes to keeping people and this country safe, and we are currently lapsed. And that also is unprecedented. And we are lapsed because the Democrats blocked voting, blocked voted against a bipartisan deal that has bene worked out between members here in the Senate and the House, Democrats and Republicans, and so it is now currently not an authorized program. That needs to be changed, that needs to be fixed quickly.” (Read more from “Lawmakers Won’t Stop Singing Praises Of Fed’s Favorite Warrantless Spying Tool” HERE)