GOP, Independent & Dem Voters Overwhelmingly Reject a Full Reauthorization of Government Spying Powers
Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, Politico reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to hold a vote next week to renew the federal government’s controversial and sweeping warrantless surveillance authority, also known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Politico previously reported that White House Adviser Stephen Miller is pushing for an extension of Section 702 without reforms. Demand Progress recently released a poll showing that only 12 percent of voters, including only 17 percent of Republicans, think Congress should renew FISA without reforms. Conversely, 37 percent of voters think FISA should only be renewed with significant reforms—namely to stop the government from buying data broker information without court orders—and another 37 percent think FISA should not be renewed at all.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka:
“Speaker Johnson is defying the overwhelming majority of voters, including Republicans, who do not want the government to have the power to conduct warrantless, mass surveillance on people in the United States. Thanks to the data broker loophole, the government can bypass courts to buy our private information in bulk—including our location and web browsing activity—and feed it into AI-powered surveillance systems. This is a serious threat to privacy and civil liberties in the United States that Congress must address before any renewal of Section 702.”