Pro-surveillance Republicans and Democrats said that unless we renewed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by its June 12 deadline, the World Cup could be attacked by terrorists and our communities could be flooded with fentanyl traffickers and foreign spies. Then June 12 arrived, and the sky still hasn’t fallen.
That’s because the authorities in question never actually disappeared. Intelligence collection under FISA remains alive and well until March 2027, despite the lack of congressional reauthorization, as confirmed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in its March 2026 Section 702 certification. Yet, intelligence community allies falsely claimed that should Section 702 lapse, the country would “go dark,” creating unacceptable national security risks.
Fortunately, the false doomsday message has failed to change Americans’ behavior. Since the June 12 deadline, the United States has hosted many major sporting events and massive gatherings spanning multiple cities with millions of attendees, none of which have been imperiled by a potential attack.
Each of the hockey games of the Stanley Cup Finals went off without a hitch. As did the NBA Finals, unless you count the Spurs’ epic collapse in games one, two and four. The largest of these events, the World Cup, is still underway without incident as soccer fans from around the world flock to stadiums nationwide.
