Cybersecurity Policy Report, Durbin Criticizes Administration’s Refusal to Testify Publicly About Surveillance Reform, (Mar 13, 2026)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) complained yesterday that Trump administration officials have refused to testify publicly about their use of a surveillance law that targets foreigners but affects Americans’ privacy.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Durbin, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support legislation he introduced that would reauthorize and reform section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Section 702, which expires April 20, empowers U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor the communications of foreigners who are overseas and considered national security threats. But Americans’ communications are often swept up in section 702 surveillance when they communicate with a foreign intelligence target, and those communications can be searched by federal authorities under certain circumstances without a warrant, which detractors describe as “warrantless” surveillance.
“In 2024, the last time section 702 was up for reauthorization, I chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, which had jurisdiction over FISA,” he noted.
“I held a public hearing more than six months before the authority expired so members could ask the Biden administration how they were using section 702. Now, the Trump administration refuses to testify publicly about how they are using this power,” he said.
He called on senators to support the Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act (S 3893), legislation he introduced with Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) that would require federal authorities to obtain a probable-cause warrant from a judge before looking at personal communications of Americans collected under section 702 (CPR, Feb. 24).
“Our bill preserves the core values of 702 as a foreign intelligence collection tool, while preventing the government from using it to target the constitutionally protected communications of Americans, unless they get court approval,” Sen. Durbin said.
“Our warrant requirement takes legitimate operational and security needs into account so that it won't be unduly burdensome or impede any action in an emergency,” he added.
“The SAFE Act would also prevent government agencies—like ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI and others—from skirting the Fourth Amendment to obtain Americans' sensitive information and other personal details from data brokers,” he explained.
“If the FBI wants to track someone's phone, obtain their location information, or access their Google search history, the agency should be required to get a judicial warrant. Instead, government agencies are exploiting gaps in our outdated laws to buy our sensitive information from data brokers. It is a loophole that Congress must address,” Sen. Durbin said.
“When Congress extended 702 in 2024, the argument was that we needed more time. So Congress reauthorized section 702 for just two years to see how the existing compliance measures were working,” he recalled.
“Now, here we are, two years later, and the opponents of real reform are saying exactly the same thing: Just give us more time,” Sen. Durbin griped. “We have been hearing these same excuses for over 20 years. It is time to stop avoiding the issue and to protect Americans' constitutional rights once and for all—not later, not next time.”
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