In a dramatic scene that unfolded in the wee hours this morning, members of the House defeated a ploy by the administration and Speaker Johnson to ram through a 5-year reauthorization of FISA Section 702. Here’s what happened, and what will/should happen next. 1/20
President Trump is urging Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but lawmakers in both parties oppose extending it without reforms. Congress now has a chance to protect Americans’ privacy. bit.ly/4tASUmW
The @nytimes.com has a story tonight that should put a nail in the coffin of the administration’s plans to push a straight reauthorization of FISA Section 702. Bottom line: the FBI is seemingly *still* engaged in systemic violations of the law. 1/20 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u...
The FBI reports a large drop in its warrantless searches of Americans' communications under Section 702. @lizagoitein.bsky.social and I explain why the reported numbers don't tell the full story — and why a warrant requirement is still needed.
By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court has held that Trump’s worldwide tariffs exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The decision is a victory for the rule of law and the separation of powers. 1/18 www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
SCOTUS tariffs ruling "is a victory for the rule of law," says @lizagoitein.bsky.social. Emergency laws like IEEPA "give presidents vast powers that are highly vulnerable to abuse." The Court stopped Trump from stretching them beyond what Congress intended.
No DHS funding without stronger oversight and accountability, civil liberties protections, curbs on violence. Congress must "flex its muscle" - by @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social, @margyoh.bsky.social, @hannahajames.bsky.social
DHS has a Fourth Amendment problem.
@hannahajames.bsky.social of the @brennancenter.org explains why the agency’s new policy allowing ICE to enter homes to conduct arrests is not only a break from past practice, it violates the Constitution.
www.justsecurity.org/130497/dhs-w...
My take on the appellate courts' rulings in the Nat'l Guard cases, & why SCOTUS should follow the approach of the 7th Circuit (which held that the deployment was untethered to the facts), not the 9th Circuit (which accepted the admin's alternate reality): www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Sen. Cotton is reportedly pushing for an 18-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Project for Privacy & Surveillance Accountability explains why that would derail any meaningful consideration of reform: www.protectprivacynow.org/news/the-lat...
It makes no sense to read that provision back into the law. It would interfere with the PCLOB’s ability to provide the reliable, nonpartisan analysis and recommendations that are so valuable to Congress, and to the public. 8/8
In response, in 2007, Congress pulled that provision, removing the Board from the president’s supervision and establishing it as a fully independent agency. (7/8)
When Congress first created the Board in 2004, it included a provision of law that gave the president express authority to remove Board members at will. The White House made extensive edits to the Board’s first report to Congress, prompting a Board member to resign in protest. 6/8
If the president could fire PCLOB members at will, it would be harder for Congress to trust that the Board’s recommendations are rooted purely in facts and expertise, without influence from the White House. In fact, Congress learned that lesson the hard way. 5/8
The question for the court is whether the president may legally fire Board members at will. As the members of Congress argue in their brief, he can’t. In fact, Congress deliberately insulated the Board from the president to protect its independence. 4/8
Congress has enacted many of its suggested reforms into law, including shutting down the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans call records. But Congress’s ability to rely on the Board’s analysis and recommendations depends on the Board’s independence. 3/8
PCLOB plays a key role as a check on executive overreach. It’s tasked with ensuring that the government’s counterterrorism efforts don’t violate Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. It conducts deep-dive investigations of govt surveillance programs and makes recommendations for reform. 2/8
Members of Congress, represented by the Brennan Center & co-counsel, just filed a federal court brief defending the independence of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). It’s in support of 2 board members fired without cause by the Trump admin www.brennancenter.org/sites/defaul...
The Trump administration’s plan to use 600 military lawyers as temporary immigration judges, with some starting as soon as this week, will deprive immigrants of a fair hearing and further erode the line between military personnel and civilian government. 1/14
THREAD: This morning, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that President Trump's use of National Guardsmen and Marines to support federal law enforcement in and around Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act. (1/22) www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-t...
A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Trump exceeded his presidential authority by imposing tariffs. The Brennan Center filed a brief in the case arguing that the emergency powers law he relied on didn’t grant presidents that authority. bit.ly/4g31plb
THREAD: This morning, President Trump and members of his cabinet announced a set of sweeping, unprecedented, and unwarranted actions to impose federal control over local policing in Washington, D.C.
The government has proposed expanding the mandatory collection of social media identifiers. It would widen social media surveillance to include not only travelers and visa applicants and visa holders, but also their U.S. citizen contacts.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Border Patrol is buying new tech... "advanced AI" to surveil dense residential areas? Automated surveillance towers? Tech to see through walls??
I talked to @sambiddle.com of @theintercept.com about serious risks amid the agency's increasingly aggressive behavior.
theintercept.com/2025/07/23/c...
The @nytimes.com is reporting that the Trump administration has requested deployment of 20,000+ National Guard members to help with immigration enforcement inside the U.S. This is an unprecedented move that raises a host of legal and practical concerns. 1/8
Yesterday the Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in support of four companies that challenged Trump’s imposition of worldwide tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). 1/15 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/cou...
Turning the U.S.–Mexico border into a military zone seems designed to sidestep Congress. It’s the kind of presidential overreach that Congress and the courts should check.
The line between the military and civilian government is one of the most important safeguards that we have. Creating a military installation on the border? “It steps over that line,” @lizagoitein.bsky.social tells @maddow.msnbc.com www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
The memo deviates drastically from usual 4th Amdt standards and creates serious risks for continued abuses of power. The gov't must be held to its constitutional obligations at all times, and no less so when the language of war is being used. 9/9
