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IPFS News Link • Surveillance

Congress Poised To Jam Through Reauthorization Of Mass Surveillance

• technocracy.news By Jason Pye

Congress doesn't have much time left on the legislative calendar for the year, but there's still a lot on the agenda to get across the finish line. In the few remaining days, Republicans hope to pass a tax reform bill and either another short-term continuing resolution or an omnibus to fund the government.

Another item on the agenda is the reauthorization of Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including the controversial Section 702.

The current authorization for Section 702 expires on December 31, and it's the first time Congress has faced this reauthorization since Edward Snowden's earth-shattering disclosures about the National Security Agency's mass surveillance apparatus. Committees in the Senate and House have competing proposals to reauthorize the program. But with the clock running out, Congress once again appears to be poised to jam through reauthorization.