Senate Overcomes Procedural Hurdle to Reauthorize Spying Authority by Joseph Lord – US Politics News

The U.S. Senate on April 18 overcame a key procedural hurdle to reauthorize a controversial spying authority.
The authority in question, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), easily overcame the filibuster threshold of 60 votes. In an 67–32 vote, the Senate voted to limit debate on the issue, clearing the way for it to come for a final vote on the Senate floor by Section 702’s expiration date of April 19.
Section 702 authorizes intelligence agencies to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreigners, but it also captures information on Americans with whom the foreign target communicates. This has drawn civil liberty concerns from both sides of the aisle, especially after revelations of expansive misuse by the FBI….