Cybersecurity Policy Report, Bicameral Legislation Would Restrict Authorities’ Power to Subpoena Communications Data, (May 21, 2026)
The government would face new restrictions on its use of subpoenas to obtain phone call records and other communications metadata under bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) is the Senate sponsor of the Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act (S.B. 4594, 119th Cong. (2026)), and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) is the bill’s co-sponsor.
The House version of the bill (H.R. __, 119th Cong. (2026)) was introduced by Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D., N.Y.), Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), Robin Kelly (D., Ill.), and Eric Burlison (R., Mo.).
“The Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act would require the government to go before a judge in order to get phone call records. It would also prevent the use of subpoenas to the phone and tech companies to spy on Americans’ for their speech or other Constitutionally protected activities,” the lawmakers explained in a news release.
The legislation, which amends the Stored Communications Act, would end government authorities’ ability to use subpoenas to obtain subscriber data in bulk from communications service providers. For any “administrative, grand jury, or trial subpoena,” federal investigators would have to identify “the subscriber or customer by name, address, temporarily assigned network address, or account identifier (such as a username),” according to its text.
Authorities would also have to inform service providers that they are allowed to notify subscribers whose records are being subpoenaed. As is currently the case, authorities would only have to show that the information sought via subpoena was relevant to an investigation rather than meeting the “probable cause” standard.
“The laws protecting Americans’ rights aren’t keeping up with advances in government surveillance. This bipartisan, bicameral bill rebalances the scales to protect our Constitutional rights against unnecessary intrusion by the federal authorities,” Sen. Wyden said.
“The Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew the government was able to demand a list of everyone a person called and texted, everyone who watches a YouTube video or visits a website, or uncover anonymous social media accounts, all without a warrant or court order of any kind,” he added.
“Americans’ constitutional rights should not disappear just because they made a phone call or sent a text,” Sen. Lummis said. “Yet today, federal agencies can secretly demand your phone records and personal data from tech companies as often as they want without ever stepping foot inside a courtroom. This kind of unchecked power is something you’d expect under the Chinese Communist Party, not in the U.S.”
The lawmakers cited the government’s “abuse” of its subpoena power to obtain communications records of members of Congress and protesters. Subpoena abuses “have been well-documented for years, by both Democratic and Republican administrations,” they said.
The legislation was endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Demand Progress, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability (PPSA).
“The very term ‘administrative subpoena’ is an oxymoron that is offensive to the Fourth Amendment,” said Bob Goodlatte, PPSA’s senior policy adviser and a former Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“It avoids judicial oversight and gives the executive branch the ability to make legitimate sounding demands to inspect our houses, papers, effects, and data, when it is in fact often just illicit government overreach,” Mr. Goodlatte said. “PPSA is proud to support this corrective legislation.”
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