The bill tightens oversight and accountability around FBI queries and preserves cash privacy by blocking a Fed‑issued retail CBDC, but it also extends contested Section 702 authorities, creates new criminal liabilities and administrative burdens that could hamper operations, and leaves legal ambiguities about token carve‑outs.
People in the U.S. (including immigrants and other U.S. persons) gain clearer limits on surveillance because the bill prohibits intentional targeting of U.S. persons under Section 702 and channels such cases toward warrant-based Title I/III procedures.
Taxpayers and federal employees benefit from stronger oversight and accountability: monthly ODNI civil‑liberties reviews of FBI U.S.-person queries, referrals to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, GAO auditing authority, and new criminal penalties combine to detect, investigate, and deter improper queries.
Households and businesses keep current cash-based privacy protections because the Federal Reserve is barred from issuing a widely available, Fed‑liability CBDC, preserving privacy and the option to transact in cash.
Extending Section 702's statutory authorization to 2029 prolongs authorities that privacy advocates say enable warrantless collection and surveillance of U.S. persons, keeping contested surveillance powers in law for years.
Criminal penalties and tighter querying rules for FBI personnel could deter agents from making lawful, time‑sensitive queries out of fear of prosecution, potentially slowing or degrading urgent intelligence operations.
Monthly reporting requirements, additional reviews, and related compliance increase administrative burdens and recurring costs for the FBI, ODNI, and oversight bodies, which may divert resources from operational work.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Mandates monthly FBI reports to ODNI CLPO and IC IG review/referral plus new criminal penalties for improper U.S.‑person queries; prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC.
Requires the FBI to send monthly written statements to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Civil Liberties Protection Officer (CLPO) listing every United States‑person query under FISA §702 clause (iii); requires the CLPO to review those statements, refer potentially noncompliant or abusive queries to the Intelligence Community Inspector General (IC IG), and gives the IC IG authority to determine violations. It also creates two new criminal offenses and raises criminal penalties for knowingly violating query procedures or falsifying compliance statements. Prohibits the Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Banks from offering, maintaining, testing, developing, or implementing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or any substantially similar digital asset available to the public; defines CBDC as a Fed-issued digital liability widely available to individuals and allows private, permissionless dollar-denominated tokens that preserve cash-like privacy; includes a nonbinding statement that the Fed lacks authority to issue a CBDC without Congress.
Official title: Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act
Introduced April 7, 2025 by Jerry Moran · Last progress April 29, 2026