Surveillance Program Set to Lapse as Congress Leaves Town Without Extension

A sweeping surveillance program allowing the U.S. government to monitor communications of foreign nationals outside American borders will expire at midnight Friday after Congress adjourned without passing an extension.

The program, known as Section 702, grants intelligence agencies authority to collect communications passing through U.S. infrastructure when targeting individuals outside the country. The legal authorization takes its name from a provision in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Both the House and Senate left town Thursday without scheduling a vote on renewal. Congressional leaders have not publicly announced plans to reconvene before the Friday deadline.

Section 702 has operated since 2008 under successive authorizations. The program allows the National Security Agency and FBI to obtain emails, phone calls, text messages, and other communications without individual warrants when the targets are believed to be located outside U.S. borders.

Security officials and lawmakers from both parties have described the program as essential to counterterrorism operations and foreign intelligence gathering. Intelligence agencies have warned that a lapse would create gaps in surveillance capability during ongoing operations.

Civil liberties advocates have raised concerns about the program's scope, arguing that it can sweep up communications involving U.S. citizens who communicate with overseas contacts. Regulators have also documented instances where the government queried the database using information about Americans without proper legal justification.

Congress faced competing pressure heading into the Friday deadline. Intelligence officials urged lawmakers to extend the program without delay. Oversight advocates pushed for revisions to strengthen protections for Americans' communications before reauthorization.

The expiration creates uncertainty about how intelligence agencies will operate in the coming days. If Section 702 lapses, analysts lose immediate access to the database and cannot begin new collection operations under that authority.

Earlier this week, Senate Republican leaders blocked an effort to advance a renewal bill, citing concerns about the scope of government surveillance powers. Some Republican senators demanded changes to prevent what they characterized as warrantless monitoring of Americans.

Democratic leaders sought to move forward with extension votes, arguing that delaying action posed national security risks. The disagreement prevented either chamber from holding a final vote before adjournment.

It remains unclear whether lawmakers will return to address the expiration. Some congressional staff members said leadership had not directed them to prepare for weekend sessions.

Intelligence agencies have contingency plans if the authority lapses, according to officials familiar with the preparations. Those measures would not restore the full scope of current collection operations.