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 about the Biden administration’s open borders policies; the Arctic Frost investigation, which led to surveillance of lawmakers’ phone records; and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Section 702 is a surveillance authority meant to be used to spy on foreign adversaries; however, many Americans’ private communications incidentally get surveilled without a warrant, contrary to the Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless surveillance.
Biggs, a privacy advocate and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance chair, noted that during her confirmation hearing Bondi said that Americans’ private communications should not be surveilled by their government without probable cause.
He said, “In January 2025, you testified before the U.S. Senate and agreed with Sen. Lee that ‘Any time an American’s private communications are intercepted or stored, whether through incidental collection or otherwise, those communications should not be searched without some showing of probable cause.’”
During 2024’s FISA reauthorization fight, Biggs proposed an amendment to the FISA reauthorization bill that would require a warrant to surveil Americans’ communications. The amendment nearly passed, 212-212, with 128 Republicans voting in favor of the bill.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) was a notable vote in favor of the amendment to protect Americans’ privacy.
Biggs continued:
During the most recent FISA reauthorization, I offered an amendment to establish a clear warrant requirement for searches of Americans’ data while preserving every publicly citable operational exception, including emergencies, defensive queries, 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 any additional circumstances or exceptions that should be included to ensure DOJ could continue to operate effectively while still protecting Americans citizens’ data and privacy?
“Congressman, we are committed to working with Congress to uncover weaponization and other misconduct by Jack Smith, by others, Arctic Frost, everything under the past administration,” the attorney general told Biggs.
She added, “We are committed to working with you on that. And we are working with Chairman Jordan, the House Intel, with all of my fellow cabinet members on resolving that issue.”
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