Senators Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff demand that top intelligence officials explain by November 6, 2026 why the administration missed a September 13 deadline to declassify a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling. The March ruling faulted search filters that let analysts query Americans' communications without required records or approvals. As Congress debates reauthorizing Section 702 before temporary authorization expires in March 2027, civil liberties groups urge lawmakers to withhold reauthorization until the court opinion is released.
Demands over missed declassification deadline
- ▪In July 2026, Attorney General Todd Blanche committed in writing to declassifying the March Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion by the 180-day deadline of September 13, 2026.
- ▪The public administration deadline to review Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rulings for public release ended on September 13, 2026, 180 days after the court issued its March ruling.
- ▪Senators Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff sent a letter demanding Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and Attorney General Todd Blanche explain by November 6, 2026 why the Trump administration missed its September 13 deadline to declassify a secret March Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling on Section 702.
Lawmaker access to FISA Court ruling
- ▪In June 2026, Senate Judiciary Committee top Democrat Dick Durbin urged senators on the floor to view the classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling in a secure room.
- ▪Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton stated prior to his July 2026 confirmation that the government was working to declassify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion while making the full document available to lawmakers in secure settings.
- ▪In April 2026, Senate Intelligence Committee Republican Chair Tom Cotton and Democratic Vice Chair Mark Warner requested the release of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling within 15 days.
Court ruling on intelligence filtering tools
- ▪In April 2026, The New York Times reported that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruled that intelligence tools isolating Americans' messages in intercepted data constituted searches subject to legal limits, ordering the government to rebuild them.
- ▪In a written query to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Senator Alex Padilla stated that the Justice Department is appealing portions of the March Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling that restrict filtering tools.
- ▪The secret March Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling objected to search filters that allowed intelligence analysts to query Americans' intercepted communications without legally required approvals, written justifications, or records, but the court authorized Section 702 surveillance for another year.
FBI participants filter tracking
- ▪A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion declassified in 2025 revealed that an FBI participants filter tool ran uncounted searches, leading the FBI to shut down the tool in March 2025 before deploying a rebuilt version later that year.
- ▪FBI search counts prior to 2025 excluded queries run through the participants filter, which the government privacy watchdog stated are not possible to track.
Legislative status of Section 702
- ▪Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lapsed in June 2026 after Congress failed to renew it, though surveillance collection continues under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's March approval.
- ▪Lawmakers extended Section 702 for four months in 2023 through the annual defense authorization bill, though neither the House nor Senate versions of the 2026 defense bill currently include a Section 702 renewal provision.
- ▪The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's current temporary approval of Section 702 surveillance collection expires in March.
Surveillance reform advocacy
- ▪Surveillance reform advocates warned that the administration may attempt to avoid a renewal fight by attaching Section 702 to the annual defense authorization bill.
- ▪Demand Progress and 22 civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability, urged congressional leaders on October 26, 2026 to refuse Section 702 reauthorization while information is withheld.
Reports on FBI querying compliance
- ▪A Justice Department Inspector General review in October 2025 reported a 98.6 percent FBI compliance rate and concluded it could not determine that querying compliance issues were entirely resolved.
- ▪Seven intelligence agency fact sheets published in March 2026 cited a 98.9 percent FBI querying compliance rate and credited Section 702 with thwarting a terrorist plot against a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, without mentioning the court's objections.
FBI search auditing
- ▪In May 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel closed the bureau's Office of Internal Auditing and transferred its auditors into another division.
- ▪Intelligence agency fact sheets published in March 2026 stated that FBI auditors review every search conducted on Americans.
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