# Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act **The April 2024 law that renewed [[FISA Section 702]] for two years — the last renewal before the authority lapsed in June 2026.** H.R. 7888 passed the House **273–147** on April 12, 2024 and the Senate **60–34** just after midnight on April 20, and [[Joe Biden]] signed it the same day. Its two-year sunset set up the [[FISA Section 702 Renewal 2026]]. The title promised reform. What it delivered was a codified set of FBI querying rules the Bureau had largely already adopted internally — and an **expansion** of the government's power to compel companies to help. ## What it did - **Renewed Title VII for two years** — the shortest renewal 702 had received. - **Codified FBI query limits** — supervisory or attorney approval for certain U.S.-person queries, restrictions on queries for purely criminal-evidence purposes, and new compliance and audit requirements. The FBI is still not required to get a warrant before searching 702 data for an American's communications. - **Widened the "electronic communication service provider" definition** for the first time since 2008. Critics, including [[Ron Wyden]], said the new language could compel ordinary businesses with access to communications equipment — not just phone and internet companies — to assist with surveillance. A Wyden amendment to undo the change failed. ## The 212–212 tie The defining vote came on April 12, 2024, before final passage: an amendment from [[Andy Biggs]] to require a warrant before U.S.-person queries **failed on a 212–212 tie**, with Speaker [[Mike Johnson]] voting against it. It is the closest the warrant requirement has come to passing in either chamber. The coalition behind it ran from the [[House Freedom Caucus]] to progressive Democrats such as [[Pramila Jayapal]] — the left-right alignment the vault tracks under [[FISA Section 702]]. The same week, [[Donald Trump]] posted "KILL FISA" before the House's first procedural vote and then backed off. The episode set the pattern for 2026: the president's public hostility to "FISA" coexisting with his administration's need for the program. ## KB Significance **The reform that passes changes the least.** RISAA is a clean example of a vault-wide pattern: the version that passes is the one that writes the agency's own internal fixes into law, while the structural change — a judge between the FBI and Americans' communications — loses by a single vote. It also expanded the authority it claimed to rein in. **Why the 2026 lapse mattered less than it sounded.** Because RISAA left Title VII's grandfather clause in place, the certifications approved in March 2026 kept collection running after the June 12 lapse. See [[FISA Section 702 Renewal 2026]]. ## See Also - [[FISA Section 702]] — the authority it renewed - [[FISA Section 702 Renewal 2026]] — the fight its sunset set up - [[Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act]] — the data-broker bill the House passed the same week - [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]] — the parent statute