The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday called for the panel to hear directly from Trump administration officials about a powerful but controversial surveillance authority that sunsets in April. In a letter, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., urged Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, to hold a hearing with senior executive branch officials on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect digital communications of foreigners located outside the country. Durbin asked that such a hearing feature senior executive branch officials who could provide answers to questions about the effectiveness 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.” “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,” Durbin wrote in the letter. Section 702 is touted by national security experts who say it allows the U.S. government to disrupt threats. But it’s been the subject of controversy because it sweeps up the communications of Americans and allows the FBI to search through data without a warrant, using information such as an email address — something privacy advocates say violates Fourth Amendment protections. One long-running point of contention in Congress over Section 702 is whether to include a warrant requirement regarding the searching of Americans’ information. Lawmakers reauthorized the program last Congress. The final bill didn’t include such a warrant requirement but made some changes aimed at making sure the government could not misuse the authority. Privacy advocates argue that the final legislative product actually expanded the scope of Section 702. The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing last month in which the surveillance authority was a focus. But current Trump administration officials didn’t testify at the hearing. Durbin noted in his letter on Wednesday that when he chaired the committee in 2023, he held a hearing on Section 702 that featured testimony from Biden administration officials, although that took place before the program’s latest reauthorization.
