Congressional Black Caucus to Support Spying Powers Used on BLM Activists

[Celerity]

The Congressional Black Caucus will support the clean reauthorization of FISA Section 702, a warrantless surveillance authority that has been used to spy on African Americans.

https://prospect.org/2026/04/13/congressional-black-caucus-support-spying-powers-blm-activists-fisa-702/


Credit: Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo

This week, the Congressional Black Caucus will quietly support an effort to reauthorize surveillance powers that were used to spy on Black Lives Matter activists in 2020, the Prospect has learned. According to multiple congressional sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, CBC support for the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) comes after Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the powerful ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, successfully lobbied CBC leadership to stand down on reforming the vast intelligence authority.

Section 702 grants U.S. intelligence agencies the authority to collect communications data on foreign intelligence targets abroad. In practice, however, it has allowed those agencies to amass troves of data on American citizens. The National Security Agency (NSA) is one of many FISA authorities with warrantless access to Americans’ communications data, which the agency has been known to purchase from U.S.-based companies. Privacy advocates like the Brennan Center for Justice contend that the intelligence community’s efforts to reduce the number of U.S. person queries completed under Section 702 only reflect known searches, as the FBI has “neither tracked nor audited these queries as required by law.”

According to The New York Times, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) greenlit the 702 program’s annual recertification in a classified ruling last month. The decision permits FISA authorities to collect communications data through March 2027, regardless of whether Congress extends the statute underpinning Section 702, which is set to expire on April 20. But the presiding judge also raised red flags in the ruling, according to the Times, communicating that there are serious problems with the way intelligence agencies use Section 702 tools to collect communications on American citizens. The judge, as part of the reauthorization, ordered changes to the way Section 702 data is filtered to produce intelligence on U.S. citizens.

The Prospect can report that on March 26, staff on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence received notification of this red flag. In the following weeks, HPSCI staff briefed Democrats in both classified and unclassified settings on the necessity of reauthorizing Section 702. But during both briefings, HPSCI staffers failed to alert Democrats about the FISC’s concerns with collection of U.S. citizen data. Despite the bipartisan push from many of his colleagues to reform Section 702 and to restrict spying powers now in the hands of Donald Trump, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, has worked behind the scenes to encourage Democrats to support a clean reauthorization, while repeating the same hawkish talking points about the urgency of a clean reauthorization. In March, Meeks told The Hill that after speaking with Himes, he would support the clean reauthorization of 702.

snip

[leftstreet]

1. Primary every one of these GOP-enablers

Warrant-less spying on Americans is unconstitutional

[stopdiggin]

4. this is not a GOP thing

FISA has been around for a long time - and under the auspices of White House and Congresses representing both parties.

[leftstreet]

6. Do Democrats want warrantless spying?

Gosh, they've always said it was illegal in the past. They've campaigned on it

Maybe that's changed

[stopdiggin]

7. have they backed FISA (in similar clean bills) in the past?

why, yes .. yes they have!

(and additionally .. there has been strong question and condemnation of FISA abuses - coming from both sides of political spectrum)

[leftstreet]

8. This is about Section 702

On its face it targets non-US citizens for intelligence gathering. The dangerous backdoor is, in the process, the hoovering up of data from US citizens - without a warrant

How ANY Democrat could support that is beyond me

Primary them out

[Demsrule86]

10. Parimary every last one of them, should be no no warrantless spying...sorry.

It is a disgrace.

[mopinko]

2. dont want to look 'soft on crime'.

[EdmondDantes_]

3. Disappointing, but Meeks and Himes should be blamed as much

If a process has been abused time after time, leadership should take a stand. Putting it on the CBC like the headline does is weird. Sure it's been used against black Americans, but it's been used against all Americans.

[stopdiggin]

5. Yeah. Strange. Congressional Black Caucus really has little to do with this issue.

And it is BEYOND any kind of stretch to try to make them a focal point ...

Talk about 'punching up' a headline ...

[Celerity]

9. More from the article:

snip

The Prospect contacted all members of the leadership of the CBC and Rep. Meeks to seek comment on the decision to support a clean reauthorization of Section 702. None of them responded before press time. Hours after press time, Rep. Meeks responded, claiming that “I support FISA reauthorization, but the only vote I’ve been whipping is my War Powers Resolution to end the war in Iran. Whip operations are traditionally conducted by the Ranking Member of the committee that has jurisdiction over the legislation being considered. Any claim that I’m whipping the CBC on FISA is false.”

The story does not say that Rep. Meeks is whipping a vote, as that has a specific meaning in the context of Congress. It says that he convinced the CBC to support a clean reauthorization. That reporting has gone unchallenged.

snip

So influential are the intelligence agencies that rely on Section 702 that they have managed to cow a long-standing reformist, CBC chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY).

In 2010, Clarke opposed Section 702 on the grounds that renewal of the act would create “a precedent under which we will see the creation of a system that uses the private sector as a de facto spying agency for the government.” Since 2010, Clarke has consistently voted to pass broad reforms restricting Section 702’s reach, and voted against reauthorizing the power the last time it came before Congress in 2024.

snip

[usonian]

11. Tell Congress to let this terrible law expire. -- Indivisible

https://indivisible.actionkit.com/mailings/view/125202
April 10, 2026

Next week, a little-known law that allows the government to sidestep the Constitution and spy on US citizens is set to expire.

Congress should let it die -- but we fear some Democrats could join most Republicans in reauthorizing this civil liberties disaster at a time the regime is greedily gobbling up mass surveillance data to punish its enemies and round up immigrants. And we know Stephen Miller is eager to use the creepiest of AI tools to massively expand the government’s ability to spy on us.

The details get a bit wonky, but they really matter: Section 702 of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was designed, in 2008, to facilitate warrantless electronic surveillance of non-US citizens in other countries; in the meantime, though, courts have ruled that information gleaned “incidentally” about citizens' communications can also be searched, no warrant necessary. Despite being a clear civil liberties disaster, Congress has routinely reauthorized Section 702 with bipartisan support.

In practice, this has meant that what was intended as a foreign intelligence tool and counterterrorism measure has been aggressively repurposed into a program for spying on American citizens -- and a loophole lets the government get access to data which, even under FISA, requires a warrant. All they have to do is pay for it.

Tell your Members of Congress to vote NO on any legislation that reauthorizes Section 702 without significant reforms to protect us from the authoritarian Trump regime.

In the 18 years since the law was passed, the gathering and sale of private information by data brokers has exploded. If reauthorized as-is, Section 702 will not only let the regime continue buying data to target political opponents and immigrant communities, as well as potentially monitoring pregnancies -- it'll be turbo-charged by Miller and AI broligarchs to give the regime surveillance capabilities unprecedented in our history. The potential repercussions for our Constitutional freedoms are nightmarish.

Two years ago, this legislation sailed through Congress; now the regime is hoping the wonky details will help them slip mass, AI-driven surveillance through with a backroom deal. We can't let that happen.

Let your Members of Congress know that they have a choice to make: Will they greenlight warrantless mass surveillance of American citizens, or uphold the Constitution and reject Trump's authoritarian power grabs?

FISA's Section 702 threatens our foundational liberties. Congress needs to let it die.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

[MorbidButterflyTat]

12. The daily "get mad at Democrats"