FISA 702: 36 Days Left, FBI Searches Up 35% as Reform Stalls

TL;DR: Section 702 expires April 20, 2026. New FBI data shows searches of Americans' communications jumped 35% in 2025, from 5,518 to 7,413 queries. A bipartisan reform bill would require warrants and ban government data broker purchases, but intelligence officials are pushing a clean extension. The warrant amendment lost by one vote in 2024. We're 36 days from finding out if Congress protects your messages or keeps rubber-stamping surveillance.

The New Numbers Are In

On March 11, the FBI sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership revealing the latest Section 702 query statistics. The numbers aren't good.

FBI searches of Americans' data under Section 702:

December 2024: 5,518 queries
November 2025: 7,413 queries
Change: Up 35%

Ted Groves, acting assistant director of the FBI's Office of Congressional Affairs, signed the letter addressed to Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

Here's the twist: while query volume spiked, the hit rate dropped. In 2024, 38% of searches returned actual 702-acquired information. In 2025, that fell to 28%. The FBI is fishing more and catching less.

The Government Surveillance Reform Act

Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), with Representatives Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act earlier this month. It would reauthorize 702 for four years while adding actual protections.

The main reforms:

Warrant requirement: FBI needs a judge's approval before searching 702 data for Americans' communications. Emergency exceptions exist.
Data broker ban: Government can't buy your location data, browsing history, or chatbot conversations from data brokers without a warrant.
No reverse targeting: Agencies can't use foreign surveillance as a backdoor to spy on Americans they couldn't legally target directly.
"Make everyone a spy" repeal: Kills the 2024 provision that could force millions of Americans and companies to conduct covert surveillance.
Location data protection: Explicit warrant requirements for vehicle telematics, GPS, and cell site data.

The bill has backing from the ACLU, Americans for Prosperity, Brennan Center, and EPIC. That's left and right agreeing on something, which tells you how broken the current system is.

What the Intelligence Community Wants

FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Senate Republicans on March 11 to pitch a clean extension: no reforms, just renew the authority as-is.

Their argument: Section 702 stops terrorist attacks and identifies foreign hackers. Any warrant requirement would "break" the program.

Privacy advocates point out that the FBI ran roughly 200,000 warrantless searches annually for years. The agency has swept up journalists, members of Congress, campaign donors, and Black Lives Matter protesters. A program that "works" by violating Americans' Fourth Amendment rights isn't working. It's just unaccountable.

One Vote Made the Difference

Last April, the House voted on whether to require warrants for FBI searches of 702 data. The result: 212-212. Dead tie.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who initially supported the warrant requirement, switched his vote to break the tie against reform. One vote killed it.

That margin proves reform is possible. It also means a handful of lawmakers in competitive districts will decide whether warrantless surveillance continues. Those members should be hearing from constituents right now.

What Happens April 20?

Three scenarios:

Clean extension: Congress renews 702 with no changes. FBI keeps searching without warrants. Status quo wins.
Reform package passes: The Wyden-Lee bill (or something close) gets enough votes. Americans get actual Fourth Amendment protections for their communications.
Sunset: Congress fails to act, 702 authority expires. Collection stops. Intelligence agencies panic. Political chaos ensues.

The administration wants option one. Civil liberties groups want option two. Nobody really wants option three, but the deadline creates leverage that reformers need.

Why You Should Care

If you've ever emailed, called, or messaged anyone outside the United States, your communications can end up in 702 databases. Your foreign coworker, your cousin in Canada, your business contact in Germany: any communication with them is fair game for collection.

Once collected, the FBI can search that data for your name, email address, or phone number without ever telling a judge why they're interested in you. No warrant. No probable cause. Just a keyword search.

This is how American journalists researching foreign sources get surveilled. How donors to international causes get flagged. How activists communicating with overseas partners end up in FBI databases.

36 Days to Act

Call Your Representatives

Find your members at House.gov and Senate.gov. Tell them: support the Government Surveillance Reform Act. Demand a warrant requirement.

Watch the Votes

Follow Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Track which lawmakers take money from defense contractors pushing clean extensions.

Encrypt Everything

Use Signal for messaging. Use a VPN when communicating internationally. End-to-end encryption doesn't stop collection, but it can limit what they read.

Spread the Word

Most people don't know their international communications are searchable without a warrant. Tell them. Share this deadline. Make it a voting issue.