U.S. renews controversial spying program --Section 702 of the FISA act was reauthorized despite fierce resistance from former President Donald Trump | 12 April 2024 | The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to renew a surveillance act that allows the government to spy on American citizens without a warrant. Pro-Trump Republicans blocked an earlier version of the act, but were persuaded to lift their veto by House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House voted 273-147 on Friday to fund Section 702 of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Drafted in 2008, Section 702 legalized a formerly clandestine program, granting U.S. intelligence agencies the power to monitor internet and phone communications from abroad made through American networks like Google. Ostensibly designed to target foreigners, the program also "indirectly" collects data from millions of American citizens, which can then be accessed without a court warrant.