Durbin Calls For Reforms To FISA Section 702

Durbin Calls For Reforms To FISA Section 702

Durbin: "Congress should reauthorize Section 702 with sensible reforms to protect Americans from threats to their security and to their constitutional rights."

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for serious reforms to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is set to expire on April 30. Section 702 grew out of a secret warrantless surveillance program conducted by the Bush Administration after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. When this illegal spying program was exposed, Congress enacted Section 702 as a temporary measure.

Last week, on a bipartisan basis, the House rejected attempts to renew Section 702 without adequate safeguards. Instead, Congress enacted a 10-day extension to allow for continued negotiations on reforms to protect Americans' constitutional rights.

Durbin said, "Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or 'FISA,' is a valuable national security tool for collecting foreign intelligence. The problem is that the government is also using Section 702 as a back door for warrantless spying on Americans here at home."

Durbin continued, "FISA Section 702 allows the intelligence community to collect the communications of foreigners overseas without a warrant. The justification for bypassing the Constitution's warrant requirement is that foreigners overseas are not protected by the Fourth Amendment. American citizens certainly are. But the government isn't just collecting the communications of foreigners. They are also collecting millions, if not billions, of communications of innocent Americans in touch with those foreigners as well."

"Our government then searches those private emails, phone calls, and text messages of Americans without a warrant. Congress has repeatedly failed to fix this end-run around the Constitution's protection," Durbin said.

The independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Board and the FISA Court have documented shocking abuses of Section 702. They found the intelligence community spying on business and religious leaders, political parties, campaign donors, journalists, and protestors across the political spectrum. In passing the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act in April 2024, Congress codified new reforms intended to rein in these abuses. But these reforms fail to protect Americans from warrantless searches. In 2025, searches of Section 702 data for Americans' information increased compared to 2024. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alone conducted more than 7,000 warrantless searches on Americans last year.

Durbin noted that during the first year of the second Trump Administration, abuses of Section 702 have continued. Under Director Kash Patel's leadership, there has been an increase in "sensitive queries" conducted by the FBI. These are searches of Section 702 data that target religious leaders, politicians, political candidates, or journalists. In 2025, the FBI conducted over three times as many sensitive queries as in 2024.

"These statistics are troubling enough, but with the Trump Administration closing oversight offices, firing compliance staff, dismantling the Privacy and Liberties Oversight Board, and failing to testify, the full scope of their abuses remains unknown," Durbin said.

Further, the Trump Administration has withheld information about the latest FISA Court ruling on Section 702.

"The Administration is also keeping the latest FISA Court ruling on Section 702 secret from the American people. The Administration acknowledges that the Court found 'deficiencies' with how the government is conducting Section 702 searches. Yet it hasn't released the Court's opinion or the details of these 'deficiencies' to the American people," Durbin continued.

Durbin noted that Stephen Miller, the architect of the President's cruel immigration raids, is the White House's leading advocate for extending Section 702.

Durbin said, "Miller reportedly views Section 702 as 'critical to a variety of homeland security missions.' Why does Stephen Miller view Section 702, a statute designed to collect foreign intelligence, as 'critical to homeland security missions' inside the United States?"

"In 2024, Congress quietly expanded Section 702 to allow it to be used for immigration vetting. How is the President exploiting the expansion of Section 702 to carry out his mass deportation campaign? We don't know because the Administration refuses to testify about the use of this authority," Durbin said. "Congress should not give Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Kash Patel unchecked power to spy on Americans."

"Some may argue [Congress's 10-day extension] is not enough time to enact reforms before Section 702 expires. But Section 702 surveillance operates under year-long certifications approved by the FISA Court. Even if Section 702 were to expire today, the law makes it clear that surveillance may continue under the current certification until March 2027," Durbin said.

"There is no emergency excusing Congress from getting this right. Congress should reform Section 702 to protect Americans' constitutional rights and prevent further abuses," Durbin said.

Durbin and U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) have proposed a narrowly-tailored warrant requirement in their bipartisan Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act, which includes pragmatic exceptions for emergencies and legitimate security needs. Durbin and Lee also published a joint op-ed in the New York Times calling for the passage of their SAFE Act.

"Our bill includes a warrant requirement for conducting searches of U.S. person communications collected under Section 702. This safeguard ensures that a judge-not the executive branch of government-approves the search. There are exceptions for emergencies and other legitimate security needs, ensuring that we can protect security and liberty at the same time," Durbin said.

"If the government has a legitimate basis for the search, they can make that case to the judge. If they do not, then they should not be rifling through the private communications of Americans," Durbin said.

Durbin concluded his remarks by calling on his colleagues to enact sensible bipartisan reforms to Section 702.

"For too long, Congress has renewed Section 702 without this basic protection from arbitrary government searches. Enough is enough. Congress should reauthorize Section 702 with sensible reforms to protect Americans from threats to their security and to their constitutional rights," Durbin concluded.

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

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