The FISA Court has documented what it calls “persistent and widespread” violations by the FBI under Section 702 – the warrantless surveillance programme that Congress just extended again, this time to April 30, with bipartisan support.
The violations are not abstract. The FBI conducted warrantless searches on sitting US senators. On journalists. On 6,800 Social Security numbers. On 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign. A March 2026 court review found the problem “ongoing” across the entire intelligence community – not isolated, not historical, not fixed.
Section 702 was originally authorised to surveil foreign targets. The “incidental” collection of American communications was presented as a side effect, not a feature. The court filings tell a different story: the FBI has been using foreign intelligence tools as a domestic surveillance programme, searching Americans’ communications without warrants, without probable cause, and without consequences.
The programme was set to expire. Instead, the House voted to extend it – again. The same members of Congress whose communications may have been searched voted to allow the searching to continue. The logic is circular: the people being surveilled authorise the surveillance because the people conducting the surveillance told them it was necessary.
Both parties voted for extension. Republicans who campaigned on civil liberties. Democrats who campaigned on accountability. The surveillance state has no partisan opposition – only partisan theatre that resolves, every time, in reauthorisation.
When the court itself documents that the programme is being abused, and the legislature responds by extending it, the system is not failing to work. It is working exactly as designed – just not for the people it claims to protect.
