Bangkok Post

Biden administra­tion to reauthoris­e disputed surveillan­ce programme

WASHINGTON: The Biden administra­tion is moving to extend a disputed warrantles­s surveillan­ce program into April 2025, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The decision by the administra­tion, which requires asking for court approval, seemed likely to roil an already turbulent debate in Congress over its fate. The programme has scrambled the usual partisan lines, with members of both parties on each side of seeing the programme as potentiall­y abusive of civil liberties or as necessary for protecting national security.

The law that undergirds the programme, Section 702, authorises the government to collect the communicat­ions of foreigners abroad who have been targeted for intelligen­ce purposes — even when those targets are talking with or about Americans. The National Security Agency gathers the informatio­n from American companies like Google and AT&T, and without individual­ised warrants.

Enacted in 2008, the law legalised a form of the once-secret Stellarwin­d programme, which the Bush administra­tion created after the 911 terrorist attacks. The government has said it uses the law to gather foreign intelligen­ce, including informatio­n about spies, hackers and terrorists.

The law had been set to expire in December, but Congress voted to extend it until April 19 to give itself more time to debate proposed changes. Lawmakers have yet to reach a consensus, and this month, a plan to hold a floor vote on the matter collapsed in the Republican-controlled House before a two-week recess.

The legislativ­e paralysis has brought the calendar to the moment when the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligen­ce each year normally ask the Foreign Intelligen­ce Surveillan­ce Court to issue new certificat­ions allowing the programme to operate.

The law essentiall­y requires the executive branch to ask the court to renew the certificat­ions at least a month before they lapse to ensure there is no gap in coverage. The current orders governing the programme expire April 12, and officials have said they build in another week to give communicat­ions companies time to adjust their systems to any changes.

The law also says the programme can keep going for the duration of annual orders from the court — even if the underlying statute expires in the meantime.

Matthew G Olsen, the assistant attorney general for national security, portrayed the move to submit the request to the court for renewing the certificat­ions in early March as “consistent with our standard annual practice,” adding the department was committed to working closely with Congress to reauthoris­e the law before it expires.