NSA’s domestic phone surveillance reauthorized
A secretive spy court renewed the National Security Agency’s authority to collect the telephone records of every American for another 90 days.
A secretive spy court renewed the National Security Agency’s authority to collect the telephone records of every American for another 90 days. It was the 36th time in seven years that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court re-authorized the bulk snooping, but the decision comes amid conflicting rulings in two other federal courts about whether the data collection program is constitutional. Last month, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the program was likely unlawful, calling it an overreach into the private sphere. A federal judge in New York subsequently disagreed, saying the program did not violate privacy rights and calling it a “counterpunch” to terrorism that “only works because it collects everything.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
RFK Jr.: How to destroy vaccination
Feature Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaces all 17 members of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice
-
The god in the machine
Feature An AI model with superhuman intelligence could soon become reality. Should we be worried?
-
ICE: Targeting essential workers
Feature After a brief pause, the Trump administration resumes its mass deportation plan