Senators say administration is withholding secret FISA court ruling past its release deadline

Left · 2Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Adam Schiff of California say the Trump administration is withholding a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling from the public, and that its own deadline for releasing it passed in September. 1 2 Left · 1According to the report, the court objected seven months ago to search filters that let intelligence analysts pull Americans’ messages from intercepted data without the approvals, written justifications or records the law requires, but approved another year of surveillance anyway. 1 Left · 2Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lapsed in June after Congress failed to renew it, though collection continues under the court’s March approval, which expires in March. 1 2

Left · 1The administration’s public documentation says such rulings are reviewed for public release “within 180 days of issuance”; that window closed September 13, while intelligence officials press lawmakers to reauthorize the program by the end of the year. 1 Left · 2In a demand letter to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and Attorney General Todd Blanche, Wyden and Schiff asked for an explanation and the names of the officials responsible by November 6, writing that if the administration won’t follow this statutory directive, “it is unclear why Congress or the American people should trust this administration to follow any of the other legal limits to Section 702.” 1 2 Left · 1On Monday, Demand Progress and 22 other civil liberties and accountability groups, from the ACLU to the conservative-backed Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability, urged congressional leaders not to reauthorize Section 702 while the administration withholds the information. 1

Left · 1The administration had been pressed and had promised to release the ruling: in April, Republican chair Tom Cotton and Democratic vice chair Mark Warner of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked for release within 15 days, and in July Blanche answered “Yes” when asked in writing whether he would commit to declassifying it by the 180-day deadline. 1 Left · 1Clayton, who is legally responsible for declassifying the ruling, has made no such promise; before his July confirmation he wrote only that the government was “working arduously to expeditiously declassify” it and had made the full opinion available to lawmakers. 1 Left · 1Warner’s office said he supports transparency and expects Clayton to declassify the opinion; Cotton’s office did not respond, and the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department did not answer questions from WIRED. 1

Left · 1The New York Times reported in April, citing unclassified administration talking points, that the court found tools used to narrow intercepted data to an American’s messages amount to searches of Americans subject to the same limits, and ordered them rebuilt; Senator Alex Padilla said the Justice Department “is appealing portions” of the ruling. 1 Left · 1The reporting also notes that seven agency fact sheets from March 2026 cited a 98.9 percent compliance rate for FBI searches of Americans without mentioning the court’s findings, whereas the Justice Department inspector general’s October 2025 review put the rate at 98.6 percent. 1 Left · 1Senator Dick Durbin, who has read the ruling, told colleagues in June it would affect their opinion of FISA and Americans’ rights, and Wyden has said the public will be “stunned” when a classified interpretation of Section 702 is declassified. 1

Left · 1Reform advocates say the administration may try to attach a renewal to the annual defense authorization bill, which Congress usually finalizes in December; neither chamber’s current version includes it. 1