Rights Groups Urge Democrats to Reject Extending Warrantless Surveillance Powers

Over 90 civil society organizations call on congressional Democrats to not reauthorize Section 702 of FISA without privacy reforms.

Mar. 12, 2026 at 11:50pm

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More than 90 civil society groups, including the ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Indivisible, have urged senior Democratic lawmakers to not reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without first enacting privacy reforms. The groups cite concerns that the controversial law has been abused by federal agencies to conduct warrantless 'backdoor' searches of Americans' communications.

Why it matters

Section 702 has enabled the government to conduct millions of warrantless searches of people's phone calls, text messages, and emails, raising significant privacy and civil liberties concerns. The groups argue that reauthorizing the program without reforms would be a 'massive detriment' and play into the agenda of Trump administration officials like Stephen Miller who support expanding these surveillance powers.

The details

The civil society groups, led by Free Press Action and Demand Progress, are calling on Congress to fix the 'overbroad' expansion of electronic communication service providers and remove barriers to the FISA legal process. They also want to close the 'backdoor search loophole' that allows domestic law enforcement to access Americans' communications without a warrant, as well as the 'data broker loophole' that lets the government purchase sensitive information from private vendors.

  • Congress has until April 20, 2026 to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA.

The players

Free Press Action

A nonprofit organization that advocates for internet freedom and media reform.

Demand Progress

A digital rights advocacy group focused on civil liberties, civil rights, and government reform.

Stephen Miller

Former President Donald Trump's xenophobic deputy chief of staff who supports extending the Section 702 surveillance program without reforms.

Chuck Schumer

Senate Minority Leader from New York.

Hakeem Jeffries

House Minority Leader from New York.

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What they’re saying

“Supporting Stephen Miller's warrantless surveillance agenda would be a massive detriment to the privacy and civil rights and liberties of people in the United States.”

— Jenna Ruddock, Advocacy Director, Free Press Action (commondreams.org)

“Democrats do not want this or any administration to have the power to trawl through Americans' private emails and texts without warrants. Democratic leaders need to listen to the people and not just rubber-stamp the spy powers that Miller is asking for.”

— Hajar Hammado, Senior Policy Adviser, Demand Progress (commondreams.org)

What’s next

Congress has until April 20, 2026 to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA. The civil society groups are urging Democratic lawmakers to refuse to reauthorize the program without enacting key privacy reforms.

The takeaway

This case highlights the ongoing tension between national security priorities and civil liberties, as well as the need for robust oversight and reform of government surveillance programs that have historically been abused to infringe on the privacy and constitutional rights of Americans.