EPIC Urges Democrats Who Voted to Reauthorize Unreformed FISA Section 702 to Reconsider

On Thursday, EPIC joined more than 90 civil society organizations in urging 42 Democratic members to reconsider their decision to vote for the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without crucial reforms. 

“Voting for a clean reauthorization of Section 702 is co-signing the Trump administration’s mass surveillance agenda,” the coalition said in a letter addressed to the House Democrats who broke party lines in April by voting in favor of a 3-year authorization with no privacy-protecting amendments. 

The latest extension of FISA Section 702 expires on Friday. 

Without basic reforms, any reauthorization of Section 702 would leave the communications and other private information of law-abiding Americans vulnerable to government access and abuse. 

Congress must pass reforms that require a court order for U.S. person queries, close the data broker loophole, revise the law’s definition of “Electronic Communication Service Provider,” and strengthen its amici provisions.   

Congressional members from both sides of the aisle have introduced three bills that would reauthorize Section 702 of FISA while making crucial reforms to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties: The Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026 (GSRA); the Security and Freedom Enhancement Act of 2026 (SAFE Act); and the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act of 2026 (Protect Liberty Act).  

EPIC has long been a staunch advocate for broad reform of Section 702 and in 2023 published a blog series—including this overview of the issue explaining why the law must be reformed.