Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire on Friday. This powerful intelligence tool allows for warrantless surveillance of private phone calls, text messages and emails of hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals outside the United States. There is no authority in this law for surveillance, direct surveillance on American citizens. But Americans are being swept up in the efforts under 702 and have been for years.

Section 702 can yield valuable foreign intelligence and even prevent terrorist attacks. It is valuable and I don't question that it should continue. But it can and has been abused in the effort to spy on foreigners. Americans have become the victims. Those who oppose reforming FISA argue there is no time to address these abuses because our national security will be harmed if Section 702 is allowed to expire even for a day. That is not true. Existing law allows Section 702 collection to continue under an order from the FISA Court for another year, even without Congressional reauthorization. Congress can and must take the time to get this right. We must finally fix the fundamental, indefensible flaw at the heart of FISA, warrantless surveillance of American citizens.

We should ask ourselves two questions. Who is being entrusted with this immense power? President Trump would like this authority to be overseen by unqualified mega-loyalists. President Trump is named Bill Poulty, Acting Director of National Intelligence. Bill Poulty is in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae, the housing projects of the federal government. He has no, underline no, background in intelligence. The Republican Senate leader came to the floor here and said don't worry about it, he's just temporary. Temporary in charge of the intelligence operations of 17 or 18 agencies, temporary approval of their actions by a man who has no background in intelligence. What are we saying to the men and women who have devoted their lives in defense of America to intelligence gathering? Some have risked their lives, some have given their lives in the process. To take Mr. Poulty, who runs the housing programs, to put him in charge makes no sense whatsoever, temporary or permanent.

And let me add as well, Mr. Poulty isn't just a housing expert, he tends to be an expert as well on revenge politics under MAGA. He has followed the president's admonition to go after the president's enemies and done it over and over again. Now we're going to put him in charge of all the intelligence agencies of the United States? It makes no sense. Since being confirmed to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mr. Poulty has abused his position to push for criminal referrals against President Trump's perceived enemies, from New York Attorney General Letitia James to Fed Governor Lisa Cook. If Mr. Poulty becomes the acting director of national intelligence, he will have access to thousands of Americans' private texts, phone calls and emails. This housing expert is going to be playing with ammunition provided by the intelligence agency to keep Americans safe. Now it's going to be used for political purposes if we are not careful.

And then there's the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Cash Patel, a special case for sure. His agency is one of the biggest users of information acquired through Section 702. The New York Times this morning had a lengthy article on the lengths Patel has gone to with the FBI to get even with the president's critics. In addition to overseeing the purge of nonpartisan career agents at the Bureau itself, Mr. Patel has also gutted internal FBI oversight of FISA by eliminating the office in charge of auditing complaints with Section 702 regulations. Another official with an instrumental role in Section 702 surveillance is Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch. Mr. Blanch was President Trump's personal defense attorney, and he has warped the Department of Justice into a personal sword and shield for President Trump. The inability of Poulty, Patel and Blanch to serve the American people rather than the personal and political interests of President Trump highlights why Congress must reform Section 702.

The second question Congress must ask is whether the Section 702 authorities safeguard the privacy of Americans under any administration, not just the current one. Our nation's founders understood the government can't be trusted to police itself against the overreach into citizens' private lives. That's why the Constitution sets up the system of checks and balances. One of the most important checks is the Fourth Amendment, which requires the government to get a warrant from a judge before searching Americans' homes or private communications. Section 702 should not be a back door around this constitutional limitation. That's why Senator Lee, a Republican from Utah, and I have a bipartisan proposal to require the government to obtain a judicial warrant before searching American communications collected under Section 702. Our legislation would also close the so-called data broker loophole, which allows the government to purchase Americans' personal information from third-party data brokers, data that would require a warrant if sought any other way.

I urge my colleagues to ask if the current administration can be entrusted with the power of Section 702 and whether every future administration can be trusted without adequate safeguards. It is clear that the answer to both questions is no. Congress must enact common-sense guardrails that uphold the Constitution, protecting the American people from abuse by this administration or any future administration.

The Republican leader came to the floor earlier today to talk about the security of the United States. I agree with him. It is a paramount task. But also, adherence to our Constitution, which each and every one of us swore to uphold and defend, is part of that process. And the notion that we can put a temporary person in charge of 17 or 18 intelligence agencies across the globe dedicated to keeping us safe 24-7 because he's loyal to the president's politics, ain't enough. You ought to be qualified before you take on a job of that magnitude. Mr. Pulte is not qualified.