06.08.26

Senate Democrats Must Not Let FISA Section 702 Lapse

“Our Military desperately needs FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield, both in Venezuela and Iran… [I]t is more important than ever that we remain vigilant, PROTECT our Homeland, Troops, and Diplomats stationed abroad, and maintain our ability to quickly stop bad actors seeking to cause harm to our People and our Country.” – President Donald Trump

SECTION 702 OF THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT (FISA) IS A CRITICAL NATIONAL SECURITY TOOL THAT HAS KEPT AMERICA SAFE

“The loss or reduction of FISA section 702 authorities would increase risk to the Joint Force, degrade our worldwide combat lethality, and significantly impair U.S. security.” – Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine

“It is critical, it is indispensable.” – CIA Director John Ratcliffe

  • “Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a critical tool for protecting our national security. It enables the U.S. Intelligence Community to collect, analyze, and share foreign intelligence information on individual terrorists, weapons proliferators, hackers, and other foreign intelligence targets.” (U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – accessed 6/8/26)
  • “National security officials have long argued that the law is vital for disrupting terrorist plots, foreign espionage, international drug trafficking and cyber intrusions.” (CBS News: Trump signs short-term FISA extension; surveillance law will be maintained through April 30 – 4/18/26)
  • Section 702 has helped protect Taylor Swift concertgoers, contributed to the demise of the head of al-Qaeda, targeted one of the most wanted drug kingpins in the world, aided the return of U.S. hostages, and helped block fentanyl from coming into the United States:
    • Section 702 “helped thwart a planned terrorist attack on a 2024 Taylor Swift concert in Austria.” (The New York Times: U.S. Says Wiretap Program Thwarted Attack on 2024 Taylor Swift Concert – 4/9/26)
    • “Section 702 has identified threats to U.S. troops and disrupted planned terrorist attacks at home and abroad, and contributed to the successful operation against [prominent 9/11 architect] Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022.” (U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence: FISA Section 702 Fact Sheet – accessed 6/8/26)
    • “The agency also said the program, known as Section 702, had helped Mexico find and kill the leader of one of its largest cartels.” (The New York Times: U.S. Says Wiretap Program Thwarted Attack on 2024 Taylor Swift Concert – 4/9/26)
    • “Section 702-acquired information revealed: Insights that have informed the U.S. Government’s understanding of the Chinese origins of a chemical used to synthesize fentanyl; foreign actors’ illicit plans to smuggle methamphetamine across the U.S. border; the quantities and potency of drugs, including fentanyl, destined for illegal transfer to the United States.” (U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence: FISA Section 702 Fact Sheet – accessed 6/8/26)
    • “Section 702 information, including information identified through the approved use of U.S. person queries, provided U.S. diplomats with critical insights about U.S. hostages who had been detained in foreign countries ahead of U.S. efforts to negotiate their releases.” (U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence: FISA 702 – accessed 6/8/26)

FISA 702 IS SUBJECT TO MORE OVERSIGHT THAN ANY OTHER INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION TOOL IN THE WORLD. UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP, BIPARTISAN REFORMS ARE FULLY IMPLEMENTED AND WORKING. THIS YEAR’S NEWEST REFORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SAFEGUARD THE PROGRAM FROM ABUSE.

“My administration has worked tirelessly to ensure these FISA reforms are being aggressively executed at every level of the Executive Branch to keep Americans safe, while protecting our sacred Civil Liberties guaranteed by our Great Constitution.” – President Donald Trump

  • “Section 702 is the most extensively overseen US intelligence collection tool, with built-in protections for Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.” (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency: FISA Section 702 – accessed 6/8/26)
  • “In the 2024 Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, Congress required agents to get prior approval from a supervisor before running queries and prevented political appointees from signing off on them. An exception allows immediate searches that ‘assist in mitigating or eliminating a threat to life or serious bodily harm.’” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Playing National Security Roulette – 4/13/26)
    • “The reforms appear to be working. An October 2025 report from the Justice Department Inspector General found that the FBI has ‘implemented all of RISAA’s querying reforms’ and that the number of noncompliant queries had been ‘reduced substantially.’ That’s an understatement: In 2023 the FBI ran more than 57,000 U.S. person queries. In 2025 it ran fewer than 8,000.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Playing National Security Roulette – 4/13/26)
    • “The precision of the queries has also been strong. Between April 2024 and April 2025, the Justice Department National Security Division flagged 127 of 9,089 U.S. person queries as noncompliant. Of those, half were compliant but flagged for procedural mistakes like not including a written justification.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Playing National Security Roulette – 4/13/26)
    • “Of the remaining 68 queries, 37 bad ones were from typos. Only 18 were flagged because the agent ‘did not have a sufficient factual basis to believe that the queries were reasonably likely to retrieve foreign intelligence information.’ Justice calculated that was an overall compliance rate of 98.6% by the most conservative estimate.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Playing National Security Roulette – 4/13/26)
  • The reforms included in the latest reauthorization bill in the Senate will continue to secure the program from abuse, including:
    • Safeguarding constitutionally protected activities and protecting against political weaponization.
    • Requiring FBI attorney approval for U.S. person queries.
    • Requiring keeping records of sensitive queries and semiannual inspector general reviews.
    • Prohibiting the targeting of Americans for Section 702 collection without a court order. (Politico: Spy-law extension at risk after Senate votes against launching debate – 6/5/26)

AS THE WORLD CUP KICKS OFF AND AMERICA BEGINS CELEBRATING THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING, IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT DEMOCRATS JOIN WITH REPUBLICANS TO REAUTHORIZE THIS VITAL PROGRAM WITHOUT HARMFUL NEW RESTRICTIONS

  • “Two senior Republican senators warned the Trump administration on Saturday to prepare for the possible expiration of a key tool for U.S. government surveillance, urging top officials to take steps to bridge any gaps in intelligence gathering.” (The New York Times: Senators Warn of Intelligence Gaps if Surveillance Program Expires – 6/6/26)
  • Senate Democrats acknowledge the importance of renewing Section 702, yet on Friday, Senate Democrats blocked the Senate from considering the reauthorization of FISA:
    • “We couldn’t go without 702 for that six months.” – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.)
    • “The Senate voted against advancing a long-term reauthorization of a key surveillance power Friday, raising the odds that Congress could need another short-term patch — or let the spy law lapse entirely.” (Politico: Spy-law extension at risk after Senate votes against launching debate – 6/5/26)
  • “Democrats want to block President Trump at every turn, but can they put the rancor aside to protect U.S. national security? That’s the question as Congress debates whether to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Playing National Security Roulette – 4/13/26)
  • “The program is a major source of foreign intelligence, counterterrorism and counterespionage information. In 2025, there were 349,823 foreigners targeted under the program, up from 291,824 in 2024, according to recently declassified surveillance data.” (The New York Times: U.S. Says Wiretap Program Thwarted Attack on 2024 Taylor Swift Concert – 4/9/26)
  • Information collected under Section 702 contributes to 100% of the president’s intelligence priorities and comprised 63% of articles in the president’s daily brief in 2025. (U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence: FISA 702 – accessed 6/8/26)
  • “Adding a new warrant requirement for FISA 702 will prevent the use of lawfully collected information to identify and stop threats to the American people.” (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency: FISA Section 702 – accessed 6/8/26)