Trump urges extending foreign surveillance program as Congress weighs changes

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Congress is preparing to revisit the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a program that allows U.S. spy agencies to collect and analyze communications of foreigners overseas without a warrant. Under the program, communications of Americans can be incidentally swept up when U.S. targets communicate with people in the United States.

The program expires Monday, and critics are pushing for changes they say would increase protections for Americans, including a warrant requirement before authorities can access Americans’ emails, phone calls or text messages. Critics are also seeking limits on how the government uses information bought from internet data brokers, arguing that such practices can bypass constitutional safeguards.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump renewed his support for the program. He said in a social media post that “the fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our military.” In a separate Truth Social post, Trump urged lawmakers to extend Section 702 for 18 more months, adding that his administration was trying to ensure reforms were executed across the executive branch.

Trump’s support has also narrowed the prospects for major changes among Republicans, according to the reporting. Planned House votes on the legislation were canceled Wednesday after an agreement between House Republican leaders and some rank-and-file members proved elusive, and lawmakers continued to press back despite a pressure campaign that included a trip to the White House and involvement from CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

For critics in Congress, the dispute has centered on how the government handles incidentally collected Americans’ communications and how those queries are monitored and reported. Sen. Ron Wyden said “Journalists, 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,” arguing for safeguards aimed at preventing secret civil-rights violations.

Wyden’s push for changes has been accompanied by Democratic and some Republican efforts that include legal mechanisms tied to court oversight. Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, announced a proposal that would require the Justice Department to seek a court order before the FBI could access search results involving Americans, arguing that Section 702 should be renewed with additional protections while concerns about abuse are addressed.

Some Republicans have suggested that a warrant requirement or other limits could be possible without undermining intelligence work. Rep. Andy Biggs said, “National security and civil liberties are not mutually exclusive,” adding that lawmakers could provide intelligence professionals the tools they need to target foreign threats while ensuring Americans are not subjected to what he called unconstitutional surveillance.

A separate debate line focuses on the scale of foreign targets and the frequency of searches that could identify Americans. According to the reporting, an annual report from Gabbard’s office showed that for 2025 the number of foreign surveillance targets rose to nearly 350,000 from almost 292,000 in 2024, while searches using terms likely to identify an American decreased slightly to 7,724 from 7,845 in 2024. The Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Goitein said the totals were incomplete because the FBI and other agencies sometimes access data without publicly reporting the searches.

The program’s supporters say the monitoring helps prevent attacks and identify plots, while critics say the system has longstanding privacy risks even with reforms. The reporting said FBI officials repeatedly violated their own standards when searching for intelligence tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and racial justice protests in 2020, citing a 2024 court order. Goitein compared the approach to the surveillance posture associated with former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, saying, “It’s reminiscent of J. Edgar Hoover’s tenure at the FBI,” and adding that officials could “pretty much target anyone.”

As the deadline tightens, time is increasingly viewed as an obstacle to meaningful changes before the authority expires. Rep. Rick Crawford, an Arkansas Republican who leads the House Intelligence Committee, is backing Trump’s call for an 18-month renewal, and the reporting said House members have framed the upcoming votes as the best chance to insert reforms before Monday. With Trump backing renewal, the reporting said the odds that enough Republicans break ranks to join Democrats for an overhaul have dropped, leaving a narrower window for compromise as the program faces its expiration.