Two senior officials from the Trump administration met privately with Senate Republicans on Wednesday to discuss the future of a surveillance authority that is set to expire next month, an issue that has long divided lawmakers over privacy and national security concerns.
FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Capitol Hill as the Republican-controlled Congress considers how to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and whether to include additional restrictions, Roll Call reported.
Section 702 permits U.S. intelligence agencies to collect digital communications of foreign individuals located outside the United States. However, the surveillance can also capture communications involving Americans, and the FBI can search the database using identifiers such as email addresses without obtaining a warrant.
Privacy advocates and some members of Congress from both parties have pointed to past compliance violations and argue that searching Americans’ communications without a warrant may conflict with Fourth Amendment safeguards. During recent committee hearings, lawmakers said they plan to again push for adding a warrant requirement for certain searches.
Following the Wednesday meeting in the Senate, several lawmakers said administration officials indicated they favor extending Section 702 without modifications — an approach commonly referred to as a “clean extension.”
The program currently enjoys strong bipartisan support from lawmakers prioritizing national security.
“I know the administration’s position is there needs to be a clean extension, and so I think they were there to answer questions and to get some feedback,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said of Patel and Ratcliffe’s appearance, per Roll Call.
Cornyn, a strong advocate for the authority, expressed support for a straightforward 18-month extension of the authority, with a willingness to endorse an even longer extension.
Lawmakers renewed the program last Congress without requiring a warrant but implemented changes to ensure the government could not misuse the authority.
“All the reforms that were passed are working well,” Cornyn said, adding there are “no problems that need to be fixed.”
Privacy advocates contend that the previous reauthorization of Section 702 actually broadened its scope. After the Wednesday meeting, Senator Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, said he believes Patel and Ratcliffe favor a straightforward extension of some kind.
“It’s an incredibly important tool that has clearly kept this nation safe,” Daines said.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., stated that Patel and Ratcliffe emphasized, “from the president’s perspective,” the importance of Section 702, implying that the officials preferred a straightforward extension. “We can’t let it lapse,” she told Roll Call. “This is too important a topic.”
Compared with the prior administration of Joe Biden, the White House under Donald Trump has taken a lower-profile approach in publicly outlining its position on the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Officials have said the issue remains politically sensitive, as lawmakers from both parties are divided over how the surveillance program should be renewed.
Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it is his understanding that the Trump administration supports extending the authority without changes, often referred to as a “clean extension.”
“I haven’t seen anything on paper, or had a briefing on it,” King said, noting further that he hopes they are going to be “communicating it to members of Congress.”
President Trump privately conveyed his disappointment to Patel over the FBI director’s behavior at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, including a viral locker-room celebration and his use of government aircraft for the trip, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Patel drew widespread attention after video surfaced showing him celebrating with the U.S. men’s hockey team following its 2-1 gold medal victory over Canada.
Trump, who does not drink alcohol, was unhappy with both the optics of the celebration and Patel’s use of an FBI aircraft to travel to Italy, according to the person familiar with the conversation.