WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called upon Republican lawmakers to work together to extend a law that allows American spy agencies to surveil foreigners abroad using data drawn from U.S. digital infrastructure before the authorization expires next week.
Trump said Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA 702), which is one of a suite of authorizations passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is vital for the U.S. military, and Republicans need to stick together to extend it.
The authorization is set to expire on April 20. Trump said he was working with Speaker Mike Johnson, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford to get a clean extension of FISA 702 through the House of Representatives this week.
“I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Our Military desperately needs FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield, both in Venezuela and Iran,” he added.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; writing by Ismail Shakil; editing by Michelle Nichols)
