President Donald Trump’s senior intelligence officials are urging congressional leaders to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with the White House treating the measure as a priority before Republicans lose control of Congress in January.
An administration official said the law needs to be renewed during the current Congress, warning that failure to do so could create national security risks. The official added that the White House supports intelligence chiefs’ request to extend FISA, including its contentious Section 702.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and CIA Director John Ratcliffe signed a letter setting Dec. 9, 2026, as the deadline for Congress to begin the renewal process. That date falls less than a month before the next Congress is sworn in.
Earlier this week, Clayton and Ratcliffe briefed the Gang of Eight, the lawmakers authorized to receive classified intelligence about national security matters and covert operations.
The letter warns that delays past Dec. 9 could put the authority at risk of expiring, potentially endangering Americans at home and U.S. troops abroad amid what officials described as a heightened threat environment. It was sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The officials called Section 702 essential to protecting the country, saying it helps intelligence agencies identify and disrupt terrorist plots, cyberattacks and weapons proliferation. They argued that no other authority can take its place.
Section 702 has faced sustained criticism from privacy advocates and constitutional scholars, who say it permits surveillance without a warrant. The law allows intelligence agencies to collect communications involving Americans who are in contact with foreign targets of investigations.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has credited Section 702 with helping prevent terrorist activity, including a planned mass-casualty attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024. The agency has also said that information from the program appeared in 63% of the articles in Trump’s daily intelligence brief in 2025.
The letter says Section 702’s statutory authority has lapsed and that collection under the provision will end March 16 unless FISA is renewed. Starting the process by Dec. 9, officials said, would give intelligence agencies enough time to complete the steps needed to continue collecting information before that date.
“To prevent a gap in critical intelligence and avoid putting our nation at risk, the government must start the 2027 renewal process by then,” the letter says. It also cautions that if collection stops, the authority cannot simply be switched back on, and says the administration plans to brief Congress again in the coming days on the intelligence it provides and the risks of allowing it to expire.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
