Section 702 expired in June. Why surveillance continues
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lapsed at midnight on June 12, 2026, after the House rejected a short-term extension the day before. But that statutory lapse did not immediately switch off every activity connected to the surveillance program.
Existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court certifications and related directives can remain operative under their stated terms. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said in a June 12 statement that the certifications then in place would continue through March 2027. That date should not be read as a universal expiration date for every Section 702-related authorization.
The distinction matters because Congress is now debating what comes next: whether to reauthorize the authority, whether to require a warrant before the FBI searches Section 702 information using an American’s identifier, and how to strengthen reporting and compliance rules.
What changed on June 12
Section 702 permits the government to collect foreign-intelligence information by targeting certain people outside the United States. Congress must periodically authorize the program, and the House did not pass a short-term extension before the June 12 deadline.
The result was a lapse in the statute’s current congressional authorization. It was not, however, an immediate termination of all collection, storage or related activity conducted under certifications and directives approved before the lapse. The precise legal and operational effects of the lapse remain part of the congressional and legal debate.
That leaves lawmakers facing a renewal decision rather than a simple restart. Congress could enact a long-term reauthorization, attach new privacy and oversight conditions, or allow existing certifications to run toward their stated expiration while negotiations continue.
How Section 702 affects Americans
Section 702 is designed to target non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States for foreign-intelligence purposes. Americans are not supposed to be the targets of that collection.
Americans’ communications can nevertheless be collected incidentally when they communicate with a foreign target or appear in information connected to a foreign target. A later search of stored Section 702 information is called a query. The FBI says a query does not create new collection; it searches information the government already acquired.
Under existing procedures, the FBI may use U.S.-person query terms such as a name, email address or telephone number. The FBI says such a query must have an authorized purpose, be reasonably designed for that purpose and have a specific factual basis indicating that it is reasonably likely to retrieve foreign-intelligence information or, in limited circumstances, evidence of a crime.
What the 2025 numbers show
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence estimated that 349,823 non-U.S. persons were targeted under Section 702 in calendar year 2025, up from 291,824 in 2024.
The ODNI report also counted 7,413 FBI U.S.-person query terms in 2025, compared with 5,518 in 2024. A query term is an identifier used to search the data. The figure does not necessarily represent 7,413 unique Americans, investigations or successful accesses to communications.
ODNI separately reported 1,081 FBI U.S.-person evidence-of-a-crime-only queries conducted for discovery purposes. FBI users accessed results in 245 of those queries. Those figures do not mean that 1,081 Americans were surveilled, charged or prosecuted. They describe searches of Section 702-acquired information under the reporting categories used by the government.
ODNI said the evidence-of-a-crime-only category is limited under the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which largely restricted that type of FBI query while retaining exceptions. The report also cautioned that year-to-year figures can change with litigation, criminal matters, operational priorities and other factors.
What safeguards exist
The FBI says its safeguards include case-specific justifications for U.S.-person queries, mandatory training, audits and recurring reviews by the Justice Department and ODNI. It also requires enhanced review for certain sensitive queries involving categories such as elected officials, members of the media, academics and religious figures.
The FBI has acknowledged serious past compliance problems, including improper queries involving Americans who took part in peaceful protests. The agency says reforms adopted beginning in 2021 added opt-in controls for unminimized information, attorney approval for large batch queries and stronger documentation requirements.
Those safeguards are the government’s account of its current compliance framework. Privacy advocates and lawmakers seeking additional restrictions argue that internal rules and executive-branch oversight do not provide enough protection, particularly when Americans’ information is searched without a traditional warrant.
What Congress is arguing over
The most prominent dispute is whether reauthorization should require a warrant before the government searches Section 702 information using an American’s identifier. That is a proposed reform, not current law.
Supporters of the program say U.S.-person queries can help identify Americans who are victims of foreign hacking, espionage, terrorism, kidnapping or other threats. The FBI has argued that a broad warrant requirement could delay the use of information already lawfully collected.
Critics say searching Americans’ communications without a warrant creates a serious Fourth Amendment concern, even when the original target was overseas. Other potential reforms include putting FBI compliance policies into statute, expanding reporting to Congress, tightening provider obligations and increasing penalties for violations.
No replacement framework was established by the June lapse itself.
What to watch next
The next important markers are any bill to reauthorize Section 702, congressional oversight hearings, new court filings and additional transparency reports. Davidson identified March 2027 as the point through which the existing certifications and directives would continue, but the timing and scope of any future certifications could depend on further legal and congressional action.
For the public, the immediate question is not whether every surveillance activity stopped on June 12. It is what Congress will authorize next and whether lawmakers require a warrant, stronger reporting or other controls before restoring the statute.
Sources
- ODNI Annual Statistical Transparency Report for Calendar Year 2025
- Rep. Warren Davidson statement on the lapse of FISA Section 702
- Associated Press: Congress fails to extend FISA spy tool as deadline closes in
- FBI: Oversight of Section 702 and Related Surveillance Authorities
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