FISA Section 702 Lapsed in June. Is Surveillance Still Running? What the Record Shows

Short answer: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expired on June 12, 2026, after Congress passed two short-term patches and then failed to agree on a longer renewal. But that does not mean the surveillance stopped. According to the Congressional Research Service, orders and directives issued under the law "continue in effect" until they expire, and a court approval from March 2026 is reported to run until March 17, 2027. Here is what the public record shows, where the real disagreements are, and what is still unknown.

What Section 702 is

Section 702 lets U.S. intelligence agencies collect the communications of non-Americans reasonably believed to be outside the United States, without an individual warrant for each target. It is a programmatic authority, which is why the CRS describes it as unique in not requiring individual court orders for each target.

The controversy is what happens to Americans on the other end of those conversations. When a foreign target talks to someone in the U.S., that person's messages can be swept in, and agencies can later search the stored data for information about specific Americans. Critics call this a "backdoor search." Supporters, including the Trump administration and intelligence officials, say 702 is vital to national security. Reform advocates have long argued that a warrant requirement for those U.S.-person queries would fit the Fourth Amendment.

The 2026 timeline

• April 17: Congress passed a 10-day patch to keep the authority alive.
• April 29–30: The House passed a three-year extension with some reforms. Reported changes included attorney approval before certain searches of Americans' information, written justifications for queries, and criminal penalties of up to five years for intentional misuse. The Senate rejected it, in part because the House bill carried an unrelated provision banning a Federal Reserve central bank digital currency. (We covered that fight in our explainer, Is FedNow a CBDC?.)
• April 30: The House (261–111) and Senate passed a 45-day extension, signed as Public Law 119-87, pushing the expiration to June 12.
• Early June: NPR reported that talks collapsed after the president nominated Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence; Democrats, including some closely aligned with the intelligence community, said they would not reauthorize 702 under that nomination.
• June 12: The authority lapsed. The CRS says Title VII of FISA, including Sections 702 through 705, was automatically repealed under the 2008 law as amended.

Why collection can continue anyway

The CRS and other analysts point to the transition provisions: any order, authorization or directive issued under 702 stays in effect until its own expiration date. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is reported to have approved the government's annual certifications on March 17, 2026, which would carry authority to March 17, 2027. NPR also reported that communications providers remain legally required to turn over material under existing directives.

Two caveats matter:

1. The orders are classified. The CRS says FISC orders are generally not public soon after issuance, and its account relies on statements from lawmakers and aides. We have not seen the certifications.
2. After the orders expire, the CRS says FISA Title I would govern electronic surveillance previously covered by 702, unless Congress passes new legislation.

The current dispute: is there a deadline this fall?

This is where claims diverge, and readers should treat each side's framing as an argument, not a settled fact.

• The government's side: Officials have urged Congress to renew before Thanksgiving. The Hill reported that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford said first steps toward recertification would need to start in December, and that an unreformed gap would complicate implementation.
• Reform advocates' side: The Brennan Center and the Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability argue that a November deadline is artificial, saying that as long as Congress renews by March 17, 2027, authority does not lapse, because filing an application for new certifications extends the existing ones. They call the urgency "a scare tactic," which is their opinion and legal reading, not a court ruling.

We could not find an independent court decision resolving this timing question. Both interpretations are plausible readings of a complicated statute, and the stakes of getting it wrong are why the argument is loud.

What this does and does not mean for you

Documented: The statute lapsed. Collection under existing certifications can continue. Congress has not passed a replacement.

Not documented: Anything about what specific data is collected on specific Americans right now. That information is classified, and claims that "they are reading everyone's texts" go well beyond the public record.

Opinion (ours): The most important feature of this story is not any single side's talking points. It is that a power with this much reach is operating on a legal footing most Americans cannot see. Whatever you think of 702, a public vote with real reforms is a stronger basis than a classified court order and a countdown clock.

Practical steps

You cannot opt out of foreign intelligence collection, but you can reduce your exposure and stay informed:

• Use end-to-end encrypted messaging for sensitive conversations, and keep devices and apps updated.
• Be careful with what you say to people abroad on unencrypted channels, especially in email and standard SMS.
• Watch for the Senate calendar and the House Intelligence Committee's reauthorization bill, and contact your representatives if you have a view on a warrant requirement.
• For broader resilience planning, see the preparedness gear in our store.

What we are watching

• Whether the Senate takes up a House bill or writes its own.
• Whether a warrant requirement for U.S.-person queries survives negotiations.
• Whether the administration files for new certifications before the March 2027 date, and what it says publicly about them.

We will update this page if the record changes. If you spot an error, tell the editorial desk.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service, "The Impact of FISA Section 702's Repeal": https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11444
• Congress.gov, S. 4465 (Public Law 119-87) actions: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4465/actions
• CNBC, "FISA Section 702: Congress passes short-term surveillance program extension" (April 30, 2026): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/30/fisa-section-702-congress-extension.html
• AP News, "Congress approves short-term extension of divisive US surveillance program": https://apnews.com/article/fisa-foreign-surveillance-congress-spy-approval-extension-497f84caba78f10a46e605c7a1d1b311
• NPR, "Congress extends FISA 702 surveillance program for 45 days" (April 2026): https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/g-s1-119094/congress-fisa-702
• NPR, "FISA 702, a key U.S. spy tool, has lapsed. Now what?" (June 2026): https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5856291/fisa-702-surveillance-expiration-bill-pulte
• The Hill, "FISA 702 spy powers face court's expiration, but renewal brings opposition": https://thehill.com/national-security/6096900-fisa-section-702-congress-fisc-national-intelligence
• Brennan Center for Justice, "Section 702 Surveillance Authority Will Not Lapse if Reauthorized by March 2027" (September 2026): https://www.brennancenter.org/media/16217/download/bcj-702-march-2027-deadline-one-pager-9.22.26.pdf
• Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability, "Congress Has Until March 2027 to Reauthorize Section 702 Without a Lapse in Surveillance": https://www.protectprivacynow.org/news/congress-has-until-march-2027-to-reauthorize-section-702-without-a-lapse-in-surveillance