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The FBI conducted 7,413 U.S. person queries of data collected under Section 702 of FISA between December 2024 and November 2025, up about 35% from 5,518 the prior year, according to a March 11 letter from acting Assistant Director Ted Groves to congressional judiciary and intelligence leaders. Section 702 allows the government to collect foreign intelligence communications involving non-U.S. persons overseas, but Americans’ communications can be incidentally swept into the same databases and later searched by analysts using selectors such as names, phone numbers, or email addresses.
The increase lands as Congress again debates reauthorization of the surveillance authority, which is scheduled to expire on April 20, and as civil-liberties concerns remain central to the policy fight. The FBI did not publicly explain the rise in searches, but the letter said the share of queries that returned either content or non-content Section 702 information fell from 38% in 2024 to 28% in 2025, underscoring ongoing questions about the scope, utility, and oversight of warrantless access to incidentally collected Americans’ data.
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A senior FBI official informed Congress that FBI searches of Americans' data under FISA Section 702 increased by roughly 35% in 2025. The disclosure surfaced as Section 702 neared its April 20 expiration and debate intensified over whether renewal should include stronger privacy safeguards such as a warrant requirement.
From December 2024 through November 2025, the FBI conducted 7,413 U.S. person queries of Section 702-collected data, about a 35% increase over the previous year. The share of queries returning Section 702-acquired information fell to 28%, according to the FBI's reporting to Congress.
For the prior reporting period, the FBI reported 5,518 U.S. person queries of data collected under FISA Section 702. About 38% of those queries returned Section 702-acquired information.
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U.S. intelligence officials are pressing Congress to renew **Section 702 of FISA** without major changes, arguing that the surveillance authority remains essential for collecting foreign intelligence and producing actionable national security reporting. At a House Intelligence Committee hearing, senior officials including **CIA Director John Ratcliffe** and **FBI Director Kash Patel** publicly backed a clean extension, with some calling for a multi-year renewal rather than the White House’s reported 18-month proposal. The authority is facing a near-term expiration, while lawmakers remain divided over whether renewal should include stronger privacy protections such as a warrant requirement for searches involving Americans’ data. The debate is also tied to criticism of the **2024 FISA renewal**, which expanded the range of service providers that can be compelled to assist surveillance operations. **Sen. Ron Wyden** argued that the broader language could reach entities with access to communications infrastructure such as servers, routers, and similar equipment, and questioned whether the expansion produced meaningful intelligence value. Testimony cited in public session indicated the provision was used to collect foreign intelligence on personnel outside the United States, but officials declined to provide specifics in open hearing, leaving privacy advocates and some lawmakers unconvinced that the broadened authority justified the added surveillance reach.
Jun 29, 2026
Lawmakers and privacy experts are raising concerns about the continued use of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to access Americans' communications without a warrant. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, witnesses from various backgrounds urged Congress to impose a probable-cause warrant requirement for searches involving U.S. persons or to let the authority expire. The debate is intensifying as the deadline for reauthorization approaches, with both parties expressing apprehension about the potential for domestic surveillance abuses and the erosion of Fourth Amendment protections. Recent legislative efforts have sought to address these concerns, with some reforms already reducing the number of warrantless queries, but many lawmakers argue that further safeguards are necessary. The political landscape has shifted, with Democrats now voicing worries about the current administration's use of surveillance powers. The central issue remains whether federal agents should be required to obtain a warrant before searching surveillance databases for information about U.S. citizens, balancing national security needs against civil liberties.
Jun 29, 2026
The **Trump administration** is moving to loosen long-standing restrictions on sharing domestic law enforcement information with the **CIA and other intelligence agencies**, potentially opening access to databases containing hundreds of millions of records, including FBI case files, banking records, and investigative material involving law-abiding Americans. Officials said the changes are being justified as part of efforts to target drug cartels and other transnational criminal groups that the administration has designated as terrorists, but the process has reportedly unfolded with **little transparency, limited legal debate, and minimal notice to Congress**, raising significant civil-liberties concerns. The broader policy debate over U.S. surveillance powers is reflected in parallel criticism of **Section 702** reauthorization efforts, with privacy advocates arguing that existing authorities already enable excessive collection and weak safeguards for Americans' data. Proposed reforms in the **SAFE Act** are being presented as an attempt to impose stronger limits on surveillance and intelligence access, underscoring concern that the government is expanding intelligence collection and information-sharing authorities faster than oversight and privacy protections are being strengthened.
Jun 29, 2026