Jim Himes and 41 Other Dems Voted for FISA Bill with No Privacy Reforms
Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, the House voted to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This three-year renewal lacks any needed privacy reforms like a warrant requirement to close the backdoor search and data broker loopholes. Shockingly, 42 Democrats—led by Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT)—voted to help House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) give President Donald Trump the unreformed surveillance powers that he asked for. Demand Progress is part of a bipartisan coalition urging Congress to close loopholes in the law that allow the government to bypass the courts to surveil Americans.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Hajar Hammado:
“The 42 Democratic votes to advance Speaker Johnson and Donald Trump’s surveillance agenda are dangerous and shameful. These Democrats defied their constituents and common sense to undercut meaningful privacy reforms in the House and instead voted to hand over sweeping spy powers to the Trump administration. This means continuing warrantless backdoor searches and allowing an increasing number of federal agencies to exploit the data broker loophole to supercharge AI and fuel mass domestic surveillance. Their vote today has major consequences as even 22 Republicans put principles over politics and voted against renewing FISA without warrant protections. It was these Democrats’ responsibility to stand up against this administration and they voted to stand down instead.
Now the fight moves to the Senate, where privacy champions in both parties are gearing up to try and stop this reckless giveaway to the surveillance state. We urge all senators to join bipartisan reformers like Sens. Dick Durbin, Mike Lee, Ron Wyden and Rand Paul in voting against any FISA measure that lacks real reforms like a warrant requirement to close the backdoor search and data broker loopholes.”