Senate Approves Defense Legislation Including Extension of Section 702 Surveillance Provisions

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – On Wednesday, the Senate passed an $886 billion funding bill for next year’s U.S. defense budget, which includes an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until April.

The extensive 3,000-page, $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), outlines the Pentagon’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It features a 5.2% salary increase for military personnel, allocates $11.5 billion for initiatives to counter China, and provides $800 million in military aid to Ukraine. The Senate passed the bill with an 87-13 vote. The legislation has now been forwarded to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on the legislation by the end of the week.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to temporarily set aside standard chamber rules later this week, aiming to pass the bill with a two-thirds majority vote instead of a simple majority.

The approval of the NDAA faced a delay on Wednesday due to Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO). He aimed to prolong the Senate’s session to facilitate negotiations on a border deal with his Republican colleagues, a key step towards unlocking billions in aid for Ukraine. Additionally, Senate leadership effectively circumvented a procedural tactic by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who sought to remove a brief extension of the government’s surveillance powers from the bill.

Senator Lee and Senator Paul spearheaded an effort to overturn the temporary extension of FISA’s Section 702 surveillance powers, but were unsuccessful. Their initiative garnered the support of thirty-five senators, falling short of the forty-one senatorial endorsements needed to remove the provision.

“It was close in the Senate, but now it’s up to the House tomorrow to stop the reauthorization of warrantless spying on Americans. Thank you for your valiant efforts [Mike Lee] and [Rand Paul],” Thomas Massie (R-KY) stated on X.

The Senate’s version of the bill also chose not to incorporate measures that would halt the Pentagon’s contentious abortion policy and prevent the Department of Defense from financing drag shows or providing access to transgender health services for military personnel and their dependents.

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