The House of Representatives has failed to renew the U.S. government's warrantless surveillance law before it is due to expire on Friday, all but guaranteeing that it will lapse for the first time, as lawmakers protest the appointment of a controversial Trump ally to oversee U.S. intelligence agencies. The spy law, officially dubbed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), broadly allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect vast amounts of information, including on Americans, to identify foreign hackers, spies, and potential terrorists. Also known as Section 702 for its place in the law books, the regulation has been considered critical to national security by both Democrats and Republicans for years. Critics have been calling for overwhelming reform of FISA, citing abuses of the law by multiple past U.S. administrations. Lawmakers from both parties had sought provisions that would require spy agencies to first obtain a court-approved warrant before being allowed to access...
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