The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
FISA Section 702 Lapse Assured—What Now?
English Summary
Despite government warnings of intelligence "darkness," CATO argues that Section 702's lapse will have limited practical impact because existing FISC certifications are grandfathered through March 2027, other FISA authorities remain, and most signals intelligence operates under Executive Order 12333 independent of 702. The genuine operational constraint is the inability to issue new directives to service providers, not loss of existing capability. However, the author warns that surveillance capabilities will persist through 12333 without the oversight architecture—FISC review, congressional reporting, compliance procedures—creating operations without adequate accountability. This is particularly concerning given documented tripling of warrantless searches of sensitive targets (journalists, religious groups) in 2025 and the administration's disabling of independent oversight bodies. Congress should condition reauthorization on a warrant requirement for searches of Americans' data, addressing the core civil liberties problem.
中文摘要
儘管政府發出關於情報「黑暗期」的警告，卡托研究所主張第702條款的終止影響有限，原因是現有外國情報監視法院（FISC）的認證已獲保留至2027年3月，其他《外國情報監視法》（FISA）權限仍然存在，且大部分訊號情報在獨立於第702條款的《行政命令12333》下運作。真正的運作制約不在於現有能力喪失，而在於無法向服務提供商發布新指令。然而，作者警告，在缺乏監督機制—包括FISC審查、國會報告、合規程序—的情況下，監視能力將通過《行政命令12333》持續存在，導致缺乏適當問責的運作。鑒於2025年對記者和宗教團體等敏感目標的無搜索令搜索數量增加三倍的文件證據，以及政府禁用獨立監督機構的事實，這尤其令人關注。國會應將對美國人數據搜索的搜索令要求作為重新授權的條件，以解決核心公民自由問題。
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