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The Case for Letting FISA’s Section 702 Expire
Patrick G. Eddington /

The Case for Letting FISA’s Section 702 Expire

Recent efforts to reform the federal government’s intelligence-gathering capability fall short.
National Security
A close-up view of the National Security Agency seal featuring an eagle with spread wings holding a shield, rendered in black and white.
An emblem on a rug inside the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

The countdown on a key U.S. surveillance capability has begun, with Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set to expire on April 20 absent its reauthorization by Congress. We should let it. Originally sold to the public as a counterterrorism-related surveillance response to the 9/11 attacks, the Section 702 program has morphed into far more than a “foreign intelligence information” collection tool.

Photo of Patrick G. Eddington
Patrick G. Eddington

Patrick G. Eddington is a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute and author of The Triumph of Fear: Domestic Surveillance and Political Repression From McKinley Through Eisenhower.

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