'If You Can Keep It': The Future Of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

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🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

Most of us would agree that access to foreign intelligence is important to national security. But whose private data gets swept up in the process?

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was first established in 1978 following Watergate. It’s a key U.S. surveillance tool. Section 702 was added to the act in 2008 allowing the government to collect the communications of more than 300,000 foreign nationals outside of the U.S. without a warrant every year. And the Trump administration would like to keep it that way even though lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worry that the act violates American citizens’ right to privacy.

That section was set to expire today. But last Friday, the House voted to extend the expiration to April 30th. That’s after House Speaker Mike Johnson failed to corral his party’s support behind a long-term extension. The Senate also passed that short-term extension.

So, as its future hangs in the balance, what’s at risk if we lose this tool? And what are the dangers of failing to reform it?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Jen. Just a quick heads up before we start the show. The news is rapidly changing, and things may have shifted by the time you hear this episode.
0:08.3	So stay up to date with all the latest by listening to your local NPR member station and by visiting npr.org.
0:27.4	For today's installment of If You Can Keep It, our weekly series on the state of our democracy, we discussed the future of a key foreign surveillance tool of the federal government called FISA 702.
0:34.2	It was originally scheduled to expire today, April 20th. But last week, Congress voted to extend the deadline to April 30th. That's after House Speaker Mike Johnson failed to get his party on board to reauthorize this section of the act. So we'll get to that later. But first, let's start with the latest in the U.S. in Israel's war in Iran. President Trump says he's sending a U.S. delegation to
0:55.4	Pakistan today to negotiate an extension of the two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
1:01.0	It's set to expire this Wednesday. Iran, however, has said it has not agreed to a second round of
1:07.2	peace talks, claiming that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has halted progress
1:11.5	in negotiations. This comes after Trump accused Iran of violating the two-week peace deal over the weekend
1:17.6	after Iran fired at two ships in the Strait of Hormuz. On Sunday, the U.S. seized a ship with an Iranian
1:23.6	flag. It's the first known use of force in the U.S. blockade. An Iranian official
1:28.8	has promised retaliation for this, and Trump has threatened to destroy power plants and bridges
1:33.4	in Iran, adding the U.S. would, quote, blow up the whole country if Iran doesn't agree to a deal.
1:39.4	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. We'll be back with more after this short break.
1:43.8	Stay with us.
1:49.7	Welcome back to the 1A podcast. Before we get to this week's, if you can keep it, some news in the
1:54.6	U.S. and Israel's war in Iran. Joining us in studio to discuss the latest is Nagar Mortizavi.
2:03.1	She's a journalist and host of the Iran podcast.
2:07.9	She's also a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Nagar, welcome back to the program.
2:09.9	It's great to be back, Jen. Good to see you.
2:19.0	So, Nagar, let's just start with what happened over the weekend. Iranian military officials say it's taking back strict control over the Strait of Hormuz,
2:25.9	despite saying this very crucial shipping route was open a day earlier. Why is Iran taking back control of the strait? And what are the implications? Well, I think this is sort of a back and
2:30.9	forth that Tehran is doing with President Trump. They agreed to open the
	...

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