Andy Biggs caved on FISA surveillance. Every Arizonan with ties abroad should care.
By Matthew Guariglia and India McKinney - April 24, 2026
Section 702 is a controversial program where the government conducts mass collection of Americans’ communications inside the U.S. The ostensible reason is to target communications by and with foreigners outside the U.S., but we know that purely domestic communications get swept in too. And of course, Americans’ privacy rights don’t evaporate when they talk to people abroad.
These communications are put into databases that the Federal Bureau of Investigation searches — and even reads — without a warrant. There is a long history of this tremendous power and related databases being abused to search for communications of protesters across the political spectrum; members of Congress; a congressional chief of staff; a state court judge; multiple U.S. government officials, journalists, and political commentators; and 19,000 donors to a political campaign.
For small business owners, contractors, and professionals across the Grand Canyon State, this is not an abstract threat. If you communicate with a supplier overseas, correspond with an international client or conduct any business across borders, those communications can end up in a government database that law enforcement can search without ever obtaining a warrant.
- And almost two million more are American-born Latinos — many of whom, like so many other Americans, likely keep in close contact with loved ones and others who live abroad.
- These Arizonans should not lose their constitutionally protected right to privacy in their communications just because of who they communicate with.
Warrant requirements for domestic surveillance have not always been a partisan issue. They are an American one. But even partisan voters know that, the moment you make surveillance exceptions out of political loyalty to your own party, you’ve handed future administrations — including ones you don’t like — a weapon with no safety.
Biggs has been a champion of the Fourth Amendment. In early 2025, he said, “We cannot continue to provide our government with clandestine spying powers that violate the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens.”
To that end, he introduced H.R. 7816, the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act of 2026, which would provide many changes to the law, including a requirement that law enforcement get a warrant before querying Americans’ communications collected under FISA Section 702. House leadership denied consideration of his bill.
Additionally, he tried to offer an amendment to require a warrant for domestic law enforcement use of 702 data. House leadership also denied consideration of his amendment.
Unfortunately, last week, at the end of a series of votes in the dark of the night and facing enormous pressure from President Donald Trump and Republican House leadership, Biggs voted to reauthorize the surveillance authority with no meaningful changes.
- This is a betrayal of years of vocal support for the cause of privacy just when we need him most.
- But because of the stalwart refusal of others to join him, Congress defeated the long-term reauthorization and kicked the can down the road for a few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment