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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration will ask a court docket to reauthorize a home surveillance program earlier than it expires in April, a U.S. Justice Division official stated on Wednesday.
The surveillance program, referred to as Part 702 of the Overseas Intelligence Surveillance Act, permits regulation enforcement to trawl by means of intercepts of Individuals’ communications and not using a warrant.
The Biden administration will file in March with the Overseas Intelligence Surveillance Court docket to resume this system earlier than its April 12 expiration, Assistant Legal professional Normal Matthew Olsen stated in a press release.
“It’s our accountability to take action to keep away from a harmful hole in assortment and to guard the nation’s safety,” Olsen stated.
Earlier this month, Home of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson pulled again on plans for Congress to reauthorize this system, saying he was “nonetheless engaged on consensus” as bipartisan opposition mounted in opposition to the plan.
U.S. lawmakers have change into more and more skeptical of the federal government’s claims about home surveillance amid indicators that officers have been exaggerating its utility.
FBI Director Christopher Wray advised a Senate committee in December that dropping Part 702 could be “devastating” to regulation enforcement’s potential to counter cyber and terrorism threats.
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