On March 17, 2026, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved another year of surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in an opinion that has never been released. Federal law (50 U.S.C. 1872) requires the director of national intelligence, consulting the attorney general, to finish a declassification review of significant court opinions within 180 days and to make them public to the greatest extent practicable. Sens. Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff say that deadline passed on September 13.
The opinion's contents are known only through reporting. According to unclassified administration talking points described by Nextgov/FCW, the court found that the government's approach for certain “discreet technical capabilities” could “present deficiencies.” The New York Times reported, citing such talking points, that the court treated tools that narrow intercepted data to an American's messages as searches of Americans, subject to the same limits, and ordered them rebuilt. Sen. Alex Padilla has said the Justice Department is appealing parts of the ruling, WIRED reported.
On October 26, Wyden and Schiff wrote to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and Attorney General Todd Blanche asking, by November 6, why the opinion is late and which officials are responsible. “If this administration won't follow this simple statutory directive,” they wrote, “it is unclear why Congress or the American people should trust this administration to follow any of the other legal limits to Section 702.” In July, asked in writing whether he would commit to declassifying the opinion by the deadline, Blanche answered yes, WIRED reported.
Senate Intelligence Committee leaders Tom Cotton, a Republican, and Mark Warner, a Democrat, had pressed for release in the spring. Demand Progress and 22 other groups, from the ACLU to the conservative-backed Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability, urged Congress not to renew Section 702 “while the administration actively withholds legally mandated information about how the surveillance program operates.” The program lapsed in June, but collection continues under the court's March approval, which runs until March 2027.
That the withholding is illegal is the senators' claim, not a ruling. The statute lets the director waive public release to protect national security if the government publishes an unclassified summary prepared by the attorney general; none of the reports describes such a waiver. In May the intelligence director's office told Breitbart News it was working “to expeditiously declassify the opinion, while ensuring the protection of sensitive sources and methods.” The White House, ODNI and the Justice Department did not answer WIRED's questions about the delay. See also Trump Posted 'KILL FISA' in 2024. Now He's Pushing a Clean Extension With No Privacy Reforms While FBI Searches of Americans Are Up 34%..