Grassley, Durbin Call on DOJ to Amend Restrictions on Congressional Oversight of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to amend its procedures for congressional attendance at Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) proceedings ahead of the expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) next April. The current procedures, first established by the Biden administration in November 2024, and continued under the current administration, hinder congressional oversight and conflict with Section 5(d) of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA).

“The FISC Procedures, as drafted, comport with neither the plain language nor the spirit of RISAA, and raise numerous separation of powers concerns. As the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate’s primary committee of jurisdiction over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, we are troubled by the Department’s lack of transparency and failure to engage meaningfully with our committee as these procedures were developed. We request that the Department amend the FISC Procedures to comply with the Constitution and RISAA,” the lawmakers wrote.

RISAA – signed into law in April 2024 – requires DOJ to allow select members of Congress and designated staff to attend and conduct oversight of FISC proceedings. In November 2024, the Biden DOJ implemented a policy that requires members of Congress and their staff to agree to a series of arbitrary and inappropriate procedures before being allowed to attend FISC proceedings, which the Trump administration has maintained.

Some of DOJ's policies and procedures include:

• Prohibiting members of Congress from sharing information with other members of Congress and members of their staff;
• Restricting members of Congress from requesting information or documentation from participants of FISC proceedings;
• Allowing DOJ staff to remove congressional observers, including members of Congress, from FISC proceedings at any time and at the sole discretion of DOJ;
• Allowing only a limited number of congressional observers to attend FISC proceedings at any one time;
• Prohibiting designated staff from attending the same FISC proceeding as their specified member of Congress; and
• Prohibiting note taking during proceedings, despite congressional staff’s ability to maintain classified notebooks.

Read Grassley and Durbin’s letter to DOJ HERE.

Background:

Section 5(d) of RISAA requires DOJ to allow specified members of Congress and designated staff to “attend any proceeding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or any proceeding of the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review.” Section 5(d) was included in the 2024 reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA to protect Congress’ ability to perform effective oversight over FISC proceedings.

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