FISA Reform Blues
Plus: the House passes a short-term FISA extension, Ron Wyden urges fellow Senate Democrats to oppose a "clean" bill, and Norway gets robot buses
Short-term FISA extension. The House voted early Friday to extend the expiring Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for another 10 days, as members debate whether to include privacy protections in a longer-term extension of the law.
The House vote extends FISA, which was set to expire on Monday, through April 30. Some Republican House members have been demanding that Section 702 of the law, which allows the federal government to collect the communications of foreigners as well as Americans they communicate with without a warrant, be amended to include additional privacy protections.
Some lawmakers want to require that the government get a warrant before it searches Americans' data collected under Section 702.
The White House and Congressional Republicans have been demanding a "clean" FISA extension without any additional privacy safeguards.
The Reason Roundup Newsletter by Liz Wolfe Liz and Reason help you make sense of the day's news every morning.
Wyden to the rescue. In the upper chamber, Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.), a longtime FISA reform advocate, is urging his fellow Democrats to oppose a clean reauthorization bill.
"With recent developments in AI supercharging how the government can surveil Americans, Congress must use this upcoming debate to make necessary reforms to all our surveillance laws," wrote Wyden in a letter to his Senate colleagues obtained exclusively by Politico.
See this interview Wyden gave Reason about FISA and internet privacy.
Scenes from D.C.: Riders on the D.C.-area Metro's Red Line can enjoy a quintessential D.C. experience this summer: not riding the Red Line. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the regional agency that operates the Metro, announced that several stops on the line will be closed from June to September while repairs are performed.
Read my 2023 magazine feature on the D.C. Metro's persistent problems.
QUICK HITS
- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives a refreshingly libertarian answer on raw milk.
Rosa DeLauro: "You are the Secretary of Health and Human Services! Is there not some moral responsibility to say don't drink raw milk!"
RFK Jr.: "Every product can contain contaminants. We inform the public and we let people make a choice." pic.twitter.com/MVeOL6vdw5
— Reem Ibrahim (@ReemAmirIbrahim) April 16, 2026
- The most cursed headline imaginable. Click if you dare.
- President Donald Trump calls the stunt in which he ordered DoorDash to the White House, done to promote his "no tax on tips policy," "a little tacky."
Trump on DoorDash grandma Sharon Simmons's delivery to the White House: "To be honest, it was a little tacky" pic.twitter.com/ID8skObWip
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 17, 2026
- Norway gets robotic buses.
For the first time in Norwegian history, a bus will carry passengers in regular traffic without any human behind the wheel. The first pilot without a safety driver was tested Friday, and if all goes as planned, anyone can ride driverless buses starting in May. pic.twitter.com/rlcI9cPfq4
— Joakim 🌹🇳🇴🇪🇺 (@joakial_) April 16, 2026
- Hezbollah appears to be holding to a truce with Israel.