FISA Section 702: Phony “Reform” Bill and Five-Year Vacation from Oversight Fail

Stay Tuned: Next Vote Very Soon

​It was a lot like the Battle of the Alamo – except this time, the defenders won.
 
In the wee hours of Friday morning, a coalition of 20 Republicans and 208 Democrats stopped House leadership from ramming through a reauthorization of FISA Section 702 weighed down by a disingenuous “reform” proposal. That proposal would have expanded the American surveillance state while weakening Americans’ privacy.
 
Worse, it would have punted the next reauthorization five years into the future. A surveillance authority created to track foreign threats – but too often used to conduct warrantless searches of Americans – would not have faced meaningful congressional scrutiny again until 2031.
 
That matters because Section 702 reauthorization is Congress’s only real chance to confront:

• The backdoor inspection of Americans’ private communications without a warrant

 

• The purchase and warrantless use of Americans’ most sensitive digital data from shady third-party brokers

 

• The “make everyone a spy” provision, which allows the NSA to compel access to Americans’ communications from businesses, landlords, and even houses of worship that provide Wi-Fi for their customers, congregants, tenants, and patrons

 
At a time of breakneck technological change – supercharged by AI – a five-year vacation from oversight might as well be a century.
 
Throughout the night, PPSA stayed on offense, providing Members of Congress with clear, fact-driven analysis.

As we pointed out to House Members, the bill’s biggest weakness was its overreach. House leadership tried to sell “reform” while pushing a five-year extension – an overreach that backfired.
 
Members were especially troubled by a Trojan Horse provision dressed up as a “warrant” requirement. In reality, it offered no protection for the vast number of everyday law-abiding Americans whose communications are swept up incidentally in foreign intelligence collection and then searched and reviewed by government agencies without any kind of judicial warrant.
 
Under that language, the FBI could still conduct backdoor searches of Americans’ communications with no evidence of wrongdoing – let alone probable cause.
 
The amendment also ignored the domestic surveillance practices of the NSA, CIA, and National Counterterrorism Center – agencies that collectively conduct thousands of backdoor searches each year. The NSA, in particular, has a long track record of violating the rules governing those searches.
 
Then came the giveaway clause. Buried in the text was a provision stating that “nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the authority of the Government under any applicable law or the Constitution …”
 
That’s not reform. That’s a disclaimer.
 
In short, the proposed cure was worse than the disease – especially because it failed to require a warrant before querying Americans’ communications in the Section 702 database.
 
But this fight isn’t over. The House has only kicked the can a few days down the road. The next vote is expected very soon.
 
PPSA will continue to arm Members with the facts – exposing phony reforms and warning against the dangers of locking in five years of largely unchecked surveillance. We’ll also keep you informed as the intelligence community and its allies on Capitol Hill roll out the next round of curveball proposals.
 
The good news: a majority of the House is holding firm for real reform, including a warrant requirement that actually protects Americans.
 
With your support – especially your calls and emails to House Members – PPSA will keep fighting to protect your privacy.

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