Trump Admin to Work with Congress to Protect Privacy While Ensuring National Security
Attorney General Pam Bondi told Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on Wednesday that the Trump administration is committed to working with Congress to end warrantless surveillance of Americans.
Bondi appeared before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the Biden administration’s open border policies; the Arctic Frost investigation, which led to the surveillance of lawmakers’ phone records; and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Section 702 is a surveillance authority intended to be used to spy on foreign adversaries; However, many Americans’ private communications are also monitored without a warrant, contrary to the Fourth Amendment’s protections against warrantless surveillance.
Biggs, a privacy advocate and chairman of the federal government’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Oversight, noted that during his confirmation hearing, Bondi said Americans’ private communications should not be monitored by their government without probable cause.
He said: “In January 2025, you testified before the United States Senate and agreed with Senator Lee that ‘whenever an American’s private communications are intercepted or stored, whether through accidental collection or otherwise, those communications should not be searched without proof of probable cause.’ »
During the fight to reauthorize FISA in 2024, Biggs proposed an amendment to the FISA reauthorization bill that would require a warrant to monitor Americans’ communications. The amendment almost passed 212-212, with 128 Republicans voting in favor of the bill.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) cast a notable vote in favor of the amendment aimed at protecting Americans’ privacy.
Biggs continued:
During the last FISA reauthorization, I proposed an amendment to establish a clear warrant requirement for searches of Americans’ data while preserving all publicly cited operational exceptions, including emergencies, defensive requests, cybersecurity threats, and my intent was to ensure that the Department of Justice could continue to keep Americans safe while ending warrantless searches of U.S. persons’ data.
Are there additional circumstances or exceptions that should be included to ensure that DOJ can continue to operate effectively while protecting the data and privacy of U.S. citizens?
“Member of Congress, we are committed to working with Congress to uncover the use of weapons and other misconduct by Jack Smith, others, Arctic Frost, anything that happened under the previous administration,” the attorney general told Biggs.
She added: “We are committed to working with you on this. And we are working with Chairman Jordan, the Intel Chamber, with all of my fellow cabinet members to resolve this issue.”
