Durbin Presses For Trump Administration Witnesses To Testify Before Section 702 Sunset Deadline

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to hold a hearing with Trump Administration witnesses as Congress debates the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The request follows a recent Committee hearing on the topic—without any Trump Administration officials present.

In a letter to Grassley, Durbin wrote: “I was glad that you convened a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on January 28th to examine this important surveillance authority. However, to fulfill its oversight and legislative responsibilities as the committee with jurisdiction over FISA, the Senate Judiciary Committee must have the opportunity to hear testimony and question witnesses from the Executive Branch about its use of this surveillance authority before considering whether to reauthorize it, with or without additional reforms to protect the privacy and civil liberties of Americans.”

When Durbin led the Committee, he held a hearing with senior Biden Administration officials to conduct oversight of Section 702, including testimony from senior officials from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Durbin further wrote: “Therefore, I respectfully request that you hold a hearing on Section 702 with senior Executive Branch officials who can answer questions regarding the efficacy of current safeguards and the extent to which government is continuing to use this authority to collect and search Americans’ private communications without a warrant.”

Durbin then expounded on the need for oversight and reform of Section 702, writing: “As you know, Section 702 was intended to permit surveillance of foreigners abroad for foreign intelligence purposes—and it is undoubtedly a valuable tool for that purpose. But Section 702 has also been used far beyond this original intent for warrantless domestic spying on Americans. It has been abused to spy on business and religious leaders, political parties, members of Congress, campaign donors, journalists, and protesters of all stripes… Even with the changes enacted in 2024, thousands of these warrantless searches continue. Moreover, Congress and the American people still do not have clear and accurate answers from the government regarding how many millions of Americans’ communications it is collecting under this authority each year and how many of these warrantless searches on Americans the government is actually conducting every day.”

Durbin concluded: “Prior to reauthorizing Section 702, it is critical that government officials come before the Committee so that Congress can obtain the answers that Americans deserve about how their government is monitoring their communications under this authority. I urge you to ensure that Congress fulfills its oversight and legislative responsibilities by calling senior officials from the relevant government agencies as witnesses before the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

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