The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on December 11, 2025, followed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 28, 2026. Both sessions centered on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 allows the U.S. government to target foreigners overseas and collect their electronic communications and other information without a court order. The collection inevitably sweeps in Americans’ communications in large amounts. Intelligence agencies have repeatedly violated statutory provisions and court orders designed to limit the collection, retention, searching, and distribution of Americans’ data collected under Section 702. Section 702 is set to expire on April 19, 2026, unless it is reauthorized. As Goitein emphasized in her testimony, Congress now has the opportunity to align this law with American’s constitutional rights and privacy expectations.
Goitein identified several reforms that Congress should adopt in any reauthorization of Section 702. The primary reform is to require that government agencies obtain a warrant or court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) before searching data collected under Section 702 for U.S. persons’ communications. Other reforms include walking back a provision of the 2024 reauthorization legislation that dramatically expanded the universe of entities that may be compelled to assist the government in conducting surveillance; strengthening the role of amici curiae (friends of the court) experts in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court proceedings; and closing the data broker loophole that allows the government to evade constitutional and statutory privacy protections by purchasing Americans’ private information. Video of Goitein’s testimony in the House is available here and her Senate testimony is available here. Download Goitein’s written testimony or view it below.
For more information about the Brennan Center’s advocacy efforts on Section 702 reform, see our resource page.
