Sponsor
Andrew S. Biggs
Representative · R-AZ
Representative · R-AZ
The bill shifts surveillance law sharply toward stronger privacy and warrant protections for U.S. persons and greater statutory clarity, but at the cost of reduced intelligence and investigative flexibility, potential gaps and delays in threat detection, and increased legal and compliance burdens.
U.S. persons (especially U.S. citizens) gain stronger privacy and Fourth Amendment–like protections because federal officers must generally obtain criminal warrants for surveillance/searches for foreign intelligence and information collected under EO 12333 cannot be used against them in criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings.
Federal agencies and courts must use clearer, statutory definitions for surveillance terms (including pen/trap and a narrowed definition of "electronic surveillance"), which reduces legal ambiguity and can improve accountability, transparency, and consistency for officials, carriers, and courts.
Unauthorized electronic surveillance and improper use or disclosure of unlawfully obtained information is criminalized and subject to federal prosecution, deterring privacy intrusions and creating a federal enforcement pathway for misconduct by U.S. officers or employees.
Intelligence and law‑enforcement capabilities may be substantially reduced—removing statutory FISA authorities, imposing warrant requirements for foreign‑intelligence collection on U.S. persons, and limiting use of EO 12333 information could slow or block time‑sensitive operations and weaken threat detection.
Prosecutors and investigators could lose access to intelligence they rely on for terrorism, espionage, and serious-crime cases, hindering investigations and prosecutions when key evidence is barred or deemed inadmissible.
Removing or restricting statutory surveillance authorities creates legal uncertainty and transitional operational gaps until new laws or procedures are enacted, producing increased litigation risk and higher short‑term costs for agencies and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Repeals the statutory FISA framework and requires criminal-warrant approval and strict limits before surveillance or use of intelligence about U.S. citizens, with criminal penalties for violations.
Repeals the statutory framework that authorizes much federal foreign-intelligence surveillance and replaces it with a warrant requirement and criminal penalties. The bill requires federal officers to obtain a criminal search warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure before conducting targeted electronic surveillance or certain searches of property or tangible things when the target is a U.S. citizen, and it bars use of certain intelligence-collected information about U.S. citizens in investigations or proceedings. It also prohibits using information about a U.S. citizen obtained while surveilling a non‑U.S. citizen as evidence or for investigations, and makes unauthorized surveillance or the knowing use/disclosure of information obtained without required authorization a federal crime with prison and fine penalties, while preserving a defense for officers acting under a valid warrant or court order.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025