Increased Spying on American Citizens Passes Congress

Update on FISA Section 702 Domestic Surveillance & 4th Amendment Defense

A US House of Representatives vote the morning of December 14 extended the FISA Section 702 domestic surveillance provisions that were added to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) until April. Despite a last-minute grassroots resistance campaign on social media and through people calling their representatives, the House ultimately voted in favor of the bill 310-118. 

The Progressive Caucus opposed the Defense Bill (NDAA) Thursday, citing concerns about the FISA extension allowing continued government surveillance. The American Prospect reported that the CPC recommended “members vote against the perennial defense authorization bill, in part because it could extend warrantless spying through this Congress,” adding that “the NDAA contains a reauthorization of surveillance authorities routinely used against Americans in violation of the Constitutional right to privacy.”

On Wednesday, “Dozens Of GOP Senators Voted With Dems To Extend FBI Warrantless Surveillance Program,” as reported by the Daily Caller. Senator Rand Paul had introduced a motion to strip FISA from the NDAA vote that failed by six votes (35-65, with 60 needed to block the motion). Notably, supporters of Paul’s motion were almost evenly split between the two parties. Those supporting Senators Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT), who led the effort against an extension without reform, included 17 Democrats and 1 Independent (Senator Bernie Sanders) alongside 14 Republican colleagues. 

In the aftermath of the vote, The Brennan Center’s Liza Goitein posted an update thread on X, writing “Speaker Johnson wants to find a ‘compromise’ between the House Judiciary Committee bill, which contains strong protections for Americans’ rights, and the House Intelligence Committee bill, which vastly expands surveillance inside the United States.” She continued that “There is no compromising on our Fourth Amendment rights. Johnson should bring the Judiciary Committee’s Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act to the floor immediately in the New Year.”

This vote has extended the surveillance for another 18 months, but Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and therefore one of the most influential representatives on this subject, is also no fan of FISA. Jordan has been one of section 702’s “most ferocious critics,” according to Reason, and has long criticized it.

Jordan’s position on this issue, as well as the closeness of the last-minute vote in the Senate to strip 702 from the NDAA bill, implies that momentum for reigning in this surveillance could be building. But private citizens will also need to stay engaged and remind their representatives to stand up for their own Fourth Amendment rights if such programs will eventually be ended.

The Honest Media Project will be following developments on FISA’s Section 702 closely and will highlight actions American citizens can take as they become available. 

For background and updates on reform of FISA’s Section 702, visit:

• The Brennan Center’s resource page

• The Action Center of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

• The Project for Privacy & Surveillance Accountability