Senate extends FISA

The Senate has approved a 2½-year extension of parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, two months after the provisions allowing government data collection expired.

The Senate passed the reauthorization Thursday by a vote of 80-16, far more than the 60 votes needed for passage.

The measure also needs to be approved by the House before it can be sent to the White House for President Trump to veto or sign it into law.

The White House has not said whether Trump — a harsh critic of the use of FISA warrants during the special counsel’s Russia probe — will sign it.

On Thursday, the Republican-led Senate amended the measure approved by the Democratic-led House in March to improve legal protections for those subject to surveillance.

It was not immediately clear when the House would vote.

The authorities that would be renewed until December 2023 cover the FISA court’s approval of warrants for obtaining business records, allow surveillance without establishing that a subject is acting on behalf of an extremist group — the “lone wolf ” provision — and allow continued eavesdropping on a subject who has changed telephone providers.

Backers of the three provisions insist they are essential tools for combating terrorists and catching foreign spies.

But they face stiff opposition from privacy advocates, including liberal Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans.