The Senate passed a bill Saturday to reauthorize a powerful spy authority for two years, closing the page on a bitter and drawn-out congressional debate that pitted privacy hawks against intelligence-focused lawmakers and the Biden administration.
The chamber voted 60-34 on a House-passed measure that would renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect digital communications of foreigners located outside the country.
The measure includes changes aimed at making sure the government could not misuse the powerful surveillance authority, which also sweeps up the communications of Americans and allows the FBI to search through data without a warrant, using information such as an email address.
