This bill extends certain FISA surveillance authorities while imposing new warrant requirements for accessing U.S. person communications, establishing criminal penalties for misuse, and prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency without explicit Congressional authorization.
Clay Higgins
Representative
LA-3
This bill primarily focuses on reauthorizing and reforming surveillance authorities under Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It extends these authorities while implementing new restrictions, including requiring a warrant for the acquisition of U.S. person communications and limiting the FBI's use of unminimized data. Additionally, the legislation establishes new criminal penalties for misuse of FISA information and prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until at least 2031 without express Congressional authorization.
FISA Overhaul Extends Surveillance to 2029 While Adding New Warrant Rules and Blocking Digital Dollars
This bill extends the government’s power to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance under Title VII of FISA until June 12, 2029, but it comes with a major catch: new guardrails on how the FBI handles the data of Americans caught up in those digital nets. For the first time, the FBI is largely barred from digging through its databases for information on U.S. citizens unless there is a specific, pre-existing national security investigation already in the works. If the government wants to intentionally target a U.S. person's communications, they can’t just use Section 702 as a shortcut; they are now required to go to a judge and get a warrant based on probable cause, just like they would for a traditional criminal case. To make sure these rules aren't treated as mere suggestions, the bill mandates that an actual attorney—not just a supervisor—must sign off on any FBI queries involving U.S. persons.
The Digital Paper Trail
To keep the intelligence community in check, the bill introduces a heavy dose of judicial and congressional oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is now required to perform a deep-dive review every 90 days to ensure agencies are following the new warrant and data-handling rules. If an agent or official decides to go rogue, the stakes are much higher: the bill creates specific criminal penalties, including up to eight years in prison for leaking classified FISA data and up to two years for conducting unauthorized queries or lying to the FISA court. For a tech worker or a government contractor, this means the 'oops' defense is effectively gone; if you intentionally misuse the system to snoop on a fellow citizen, you’re looking at a felony charge.
Audits and Accountability
Beyond the courtroom, the bill puts the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the case. The Comptroller General is tasked with a full-scale audit of the technical systems used to target foreign subjects to ensure they aren't accidentally (or intentionally) sweeping up people living in the U.S. This is a big deal for anyone concerned about 'incidental collection'—that's when your emails or calls are sucked into a database because you happened to be talking to someone overseas who was under surveillance. The audit aims to prove whether the government’s 'technical methods' actually stay within the lines of the law, with a full report due to Congress within a year.
No Fed-Coin for Now
In a move that shifts from national security to your digital wallet, the bill also places a hard pause on the creation of a 'Central Bank Digital Currency' (CBDC). Until at least December 31, 2031, the Federal Reserve is prohibited from issuing a digital dollar that the general public can use. This provision is designed to keep the government out of your daily transactions, ensuring that any future digital currency doesn't become a tool for tracking how you spend your money at the grocery store or the gas station. While it leaves the door open for private, 'permissionless' digital assets that act like physical cash, it makes one thing clear: the Fed can't launch its own digital currency without a brand-new, explicit act of Congress.