A report obtained by WIRED reveals that Congressman Jim Himes, the leading Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, is secretly pressuring his colleagues to support the White House's request to renew the FBI's authority to search American communications without court orders.
In an internal message viewed by WIRED, Himes urged his Democratic colleagues to endorse the renewal of the controversial surveillance program that captures electronic data on foreigners abroad, authorized under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). While the program is primarily aimed at foreigners, it gathers significant amounts of communications involving American citizens.
Himes' position hinges on what he termed "56 reforms" enacted by Congress in 2024, which set forth internal protocols for the FBI as an alternative to constitutional warrants. In his message, he states that these amendments function as intended, noting a compliance rate of "over 99%" over the past two years.
However, the basis of this defense has drastically shifted following changes within the FBI. The compliance metric cited by Himes was based on data from the internal watchdog, which served as an internal alarm to uncover violations but was shut down by FBI Director Kash Patel last year. Previous court opinions based on that office's data revealed hundreds of thousands of inappropriate searches within the FBI. Without the necessary auditors to track failure rates, the compliance mechanisms referenced by Himes have effectively ceased to function.
Himes' office reiterated the positions outlined in the memo, emphasizing his openness to further reforms in Section 702 and the careful consideration of issues during a short-term authorization that allows Congress to discuss the pros and cons without endangering national security.
As a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, Himes possesses deep insight into the program's details, but his message included claims that contradict FISA oversight mechanisms as presented by experts. The FISA Court is a secret court that lacks an investigative body to review FBI database queries, and its role resembles reactive responses relying on the Department of Justice to report violations.
Thus, Liza Goitein, director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center, argues that Congress and the FISA Court do not conduct independent reviews of FBI queries but rely on the Department of Justice to carry out thorough audits and report them accurately and timely. She adds that the current Department of Justice has made substantial changes to internal oversight mechanisms and faced judicial criticism for providing inaccurate or misleading information.
No judges review FBI queries before they reach the communications of millions of Americans, a fact that Himes and other committee members justify as necessary for enabling the government to respond swiftly to terrorist threats. Critics assert that the current administration's efforts to dismantle internal controls at the FBI create significant vulnerabilities that could lead to abuses lasting for years before they are uncovered, if ever.
No member of Congress is currently calling for the end of the Section 702 program, as even its staunchest critics acknowledge its intelligence value. In contrast, some lawmakers have proposed requiring a warrant for accessing American data, with broad exceptions for life-threatening emergencies or immediate responses, along with defensive exceptions for cybersecurity.
Current safeguards rely on approvals from attorneys and supervisors within the FBI for sensitive consents, but last year's restructuring of the federal workforce stripped mid-level employees and legal sectors of some civil service protections, making non-implementation of administrative policies a cause for dismissal. Legal complaints have claimed that several terminations, carried out under current administrative policies, were acknowledged by Patel as "likely unlawful" according to court filings.
Consequently, the "high-level" approvals referred to by Himes could become a tool for pushing internal oversight goals aligned with political administration priorities rather than serving as a barrier against abuse.
The report also raised signals about public disclosures in 2025 and 2026 documenting a series of surveillance abuses and oversight violations. A FISA Court ruling released last fall mentioned the use of a tool that queried data on Americans which was neither recorded nor reviewed, with the incident occurring after the reforms Himes references. The Department of Justice's Inspector General reported that the history of the FBI's compliance issues with Section 702 prevents it from concluding that query concerns are a thing of the past based on a limited timeframe.
The political dispute included a vote by the Congressional Progressive Caucus this week opposing the renewal without reforms, binding 98 members to vote against any "clean" extension of the program. Privacy advocate and legislator Pramila Jayapal warned that the administration has shown a willingness to use surveillance tools against domestic political targets.
Despite the warnings, congressional sources reported that Himes is seeking approval from Democratic leadership to strike a deal with Republicans to pass a clean renewal without concessions.
A congressional staffer familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that relinquishing such a leverage point would be a wrong decision, particularly amid the ongoing controversy over domestic surveillance by this administration.