Get FISA Right turns 18

June 26, 2026
A screenshot of my.barackobama.com. At the top: Senator Obama - Please vote NO on Telecom Immunity - Get FISA Right. Below, a bunch of information including the Get FISA Right logo, a subset of the list of members, and the description if the group
Get FISA Right’s home page on my.barackobama.com, July 2008

“During the Democratic primary for President of the United States, the activist base rallied behind the Constitution and the efforts of Senators Chris Dodd and Russell Feingold to deny immunity for telecommunications companies that helped the Bush Administration spy on American citizens without a court order.

Senator Obama pledged to “support a filibuster” of ANY bill that contained retroactive immunity. Now that he has won our votes in the primary, he has decided to vote in favor of retroactive immunity for the telecoms.”

— Mardi, June 26 2008, in Please Don’t … Senator on my.barack.obama.com; links no longer accessible, even in archive.org

“The group was conceived on a listserv for progressive, politically active people, said Mike Stark, an activist who is a law student at the University of Virginia. He wrote an initial e-mail to the group arguing: “Obama is getting mad props for social networking, why don’t we use social networking to let him know that he can’t keep elbowing his progressive base — the people who got him the nomination — away from the policy table?””

— Norm Cohen, Obama Backlash in His Online Backyard, New York Times, July 1, 2009

Please, Senator Obama, Say NO to Telecom Immunity and Get FISA Right launched on June 26, 2008, with posts by Mardi on my.barackobama.com (aka MyBO). The next day, Mike Stark’s post on Open Left kicked off a barrage of posts in the progressive blogosphere. On June 29, our collaboratively-authored Open Letter To Senator Obama: Please Vote NO On Telecom Immunity hit #1 on Digg. The media hook of Obama supporters using his own social network to pressure him quickly picked up mainstream media coverage, first from Ari Melber at The Nation, quickly followed by the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Time, the New York Times …

By July 2, we were the biggest group on MyBO.  

On July 3, Obama responded to our open letter on MyBO and the Huffington Post  – an event that’s often seen as a watershed for social network activism in the US.*

Get FISA Right’s grassroots energy was a valuable complement to the multi-year work by civil liberties organizations like EFF, EPIC Privacy, and CDT — and by champions in Congress like Russ Feingold and their staffers — and for a moment it seemed like we had tipped the scales. But alas, it wasn’t enough.

The crowdfunded video ad Get FISA Right ran in 2008 partnering with SaysMe.tv

On July 9 2008 Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act, including Section 702 – giving the government virtually unrestricted access to collect Americans’ international communications, and granting retroactive immunity to telecoms that had cooperated in illegal Bush-era spying.

In 2012, despite the Snowden revelations, Congress voted to reauthorize FISA Section 702 for another six years.

In 2018, despite years of documentation of how inttelligence agences broke the law and Carter Page incident, Congress voted to reauthorise FISA Section for another six years

In 2024, Congress voted to reauthorize and expand intelligence agencies powers under FISA Section 702 for another two years.

And in 2026 …

A screenshot of the results of the vote on HR 9238. Republican: 190 Yay, 19 Nay, 9 NV. Democratic: 7 Yea, 199 Nay, 9 NV. Independent: 1 Yea. Totals: 198 Yea, 218 Nay, 15 NV.
The final vote on H.R.9238, a three-week extension of FISA Section 702, June 11 2026


“A key surveillance power expired early Saturday amid a congressional stalemate over renewing it”

– A Key Spying Power Expired. Will Foreign Surveillance Go Dark?, Dustin Volz, New York Times, June 12 2026

Whoa. Wasn’t expecting that!

Since the FISA Court has authorized the program through March 2027, the “lapse” (as everybody seems to be referring it) doesn’t actually end Section 702 surveillance; Brennan Center’s one-pager and Patrick Eddington’s FISA Section 702 Lapse Assured—What Now? on Cato at Liberty have the details. Still, it’s a huge victory for FISA reformers. As Jake Leperruque of CDT says in the Washington Examiner, there’s only one way out of Congress’s FISA quagmire; congressional leaders need to “stop stonewalling and allow votes on reform” EPIC Privacy notes

“Senators from both sides of the aisle have introduced bills that would reauthorize Section 702 while making crucial reforms: The Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026 (GSRA); the Security and Freedom Enhancement Act of 2026 (SAFE Act); and the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act of 2026 (Protect Liberty Act).”

All of these include reforms like a warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole, which have broad public support as well as bipartisan support in Congress.

Thanks to everybody who’s been involved over the years!

“Members of the group are vowing not just to fight on, but to organize in a way that was impossible to do during the last frenzied two weeks. Members are retooling, creating a central website with more robust tools so that the large number of members can better communicate without hundreds of emails clogging their inboxes.”

— Dawn Teo, Networked Obama FISA Group Takes Fight Forward on Huffington Post, July 17 2008

Get FISA Right kept organizing — and finding creative ways to use social networks:

Since then, as newer groups like Demand Progress, Restore the Fourth,and  Fight for the Future have taken the lead, we’ve come back to life from time to time during FISA and Patriot Act reauthorization battles.

Communications have been a huge challenge for the Get FISA Right. At first it was email overload (hundreds of messages per hour, with manual approval required before sending to the group, and buggy software). Then barackobama.com shut down (a huge missed opportunity for the country as a whole, not just us) and we lost our largest communication channel.. Our self-hosted forum never got to critical mass, and neither did our Google Group, our Facebook group and page, or our Medium blog. A few years later, Wetpaint (still the best wiki I’ve ever used for activism, as the Voter Suppression Wiki and Join the Impact showed later in 2008) got sold and then went away. Today, pages like This time, we’re writing the history are only available are only available via archive.org — and for that matter the vast majority of the links don’t exist any more.

Still, quite a few Get FISA Right members from 2008 have stayed involved in activism, and it’s always a pleasure to run into you. It’s really amazing what we’ve accomplished as an all-volunteer grassroots group … so thanks to everybody who’s been involved over the years!

Stay tuned!

For years, civil libertarians like Get FISA Right have warned of the risks of the government abusing their broad spying powers. With the administration targeting protestors, immigrants, and anybody who opposes fascism, the stakes of FISA renewal are higher than ever. As Specer Ackerman discusses in Big STELLAR WIND Energy, “an unresolved question is whether the Security State and its allies would actually accept the loss of what the intelligence agencies consistently describe as one of their most important authorities.”

More positively, though, the good news is that there’s much broader awareness of the risks of the surveillance-industrial complex than ever before. The vast majority of Americans have always opposed warrantless wiretapping, but it’s been challenging to mobilize peoiple. With momentum opposing data centers building across party lines, and restance to Flock’s AI-based police surveillance systems exploding,that seems like it’s changing.

This year’s FISA battle is kind of on hold right now, with Democrats refusing to vote for anything as long as the odious Bill Pulte is Acting Director of National Intelligence and Trump holding FISA hostage to try to force the Senate to pass the voter-suppression SAVE America Act, but is likely to heat up again. If they don’t pass anything before the midterms, they can also take a crack at it in the post-election “lame duck” sessions in November and December — or try attaching it to must-pass legislation like the NDAA. So there’s still a long way to go.…

So stay tuned!

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What next on FISA Section 702? Good question!

June 22, 2026

“The fate of legislation to revive the government’s warrantless spying powers remains murky after President Trump last week called for a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing for Jay Clayton, his pick to serve as director of national intelligence, to be postponed.”

— FISA negotiations at a standstill after Clayton hearing delayed, Sudiksha Kochi on The Hill, June 22

Despite surveillance hawks wringing their hands about how the FISA lapse that started on June 12 could cause the sky to fall, the Administration sure doesn’t seem to see it as urgent. Not only is acting director of national Intelligence Bill Pulte starting mass firing at ODNI reinforcing Democrats’ refusal to do any reauthorization until a permanent DNI is in place, Trump’s is now saying that he’ll veto any version of FISA that doesn’t include SAVE Act — a voter-suppression bill has no chance of passing the Senate on its own, so apparently dooms FISA until he backs down.

It’s hard to know when things will start up again. Trump has a meeting with Senate Republicans on Wednesday, so maybe after that? The House is scheduled to be in session from June 23 to July 3, and June 26 is the Senate’s last scheduled day before the holiday … will there even be a vote before then? Time will tell.

After that, there’s still a long ways to go. Both chambers come back on July 13 (although the House will only be there for a couple of weeks before the August recess), and they’re in session for a few weeks in September as well, but the closer it gets to an election the less likely it is that they’ll tackle something so controversial. Existing certifications go through March 2027, so they can also take a crack at it in the post-election “lame duck” sessions in November and December or early next Congress. It’s exhausting just writing this …

In any case, once things do pick up, they’re likely to start moving quickly. So … stay tuned!

If you want more frequent updates than we have here on the blog … well, Get FISA Right has always been adventurous on social networks, so we’ve set up a couple of feeds in the Atmosphere.

  • FISA (uncurated) has a broad selection of posts related to FISA and Section 702
  • FISA (curated) has posts related to FISA and Section 702 from a list of about 50 organizations, legal experts, journalists, and activists focused on surveillance, human rights, and civil rights

You don’t need accounts to check the feeds. That said, if you’ve bot a Blacksky, Bluesky, or Eurosky account you can pin them to make it easier to see regular updates — and you can also follow us, at @getfisaright.net.

Get FISA Right

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FISA Section 702 is going to lapse — and that’s a big deal (in a good way)

June 11, 2026
A screenshot of the results of the vote on HR 9238. Republican: 190 Yay, 19 Nay, 9 NV. Democratic: 7 Yea, 199 Nay, 9 NV. Independent: 1 Yea. Totals: 198 Yea, 218 Nay, 15 NV.
The final vote on H.R.9238, a three-week extension of FISA Section 702

Both chambers of Congress have left town, meaning that FISA Section 702 won’t be reauthorized by the June 12 “deadline”. Even though the lapse is likely to be temporary, it’s still a big deal. This is the first time these authorities have lapsed since they were put in place in 2008 — the year Get FISA Right started. So thanks to all the legislators in both parties who voted “no” … and thanks to all the activists who have gotten involved over the years!

In practice, though, the lapse doesn’t make a lot of difference in the short term. The FISA Court certifies programs for a year at a time, so section 702 surveillance will continue until March 2027; Patrick Eddington’s FISA Section 702 Lapse Assured—What Now? on cato.org has the details.

Still, a lapse really is a big victory for reformers. Intelligence agencies and surveillance hawks hate hate hate the idea of reforms, and two years ago they were able to get a reauthorization without conceding. That didn’t work this time.

And it’s really worth highlighting the bipartisan pus for reforms. 9 House Republicans voting against the reauthorization, and Senate Republicans including Mike Lee and Rand Paul also said that a reauthorization without reforms was a non-starter. While Trump’s appointment of the odious Bill Pulte was a key reason that Democratic leaders finally rallied against reauthorization, the statement from House Democratic leadership also highlighted that the path to reauthoriation “will require enacting meaningful reforms”

As Jake Leperruque says in the Washington Examiner, there’s only one way out of Congress’s FISA quagmire; congressional leaders need to “stop stonewalling and allow votes on reforms, which until now had always been the expected norm.” EPIC Privacy notes

“Senators from both sides of the aisle have introduced bills that would reauthorize Section 702 while making crucial reforms: The Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026 (GSRA); the Security and Freedom Enhancement Act of 2026 (SAFE Act); and the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act of 2026 (Protect Liberty Act).”

All of these include reforms like a warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole, which have broad public support as well as bipartisan support in Congress.

What next? The House is on recess until June 23, but they might well take FISA up again once they get back. Or, the Senate might decide to take another crack at it. Not long after the vote, Trump announced that he was nominating Jay Clayton (US Attorney in Manhatten, and former chair of SEC) as permanent Director of National Intelligence. Even though Clayton is statutorially unqualified for the role (since he doesn’t have any intelligence experience), he’s not Pulte, so surveillance hawks are probably hoping that will be enough to change the dynamics. So we shall see …

Right now, though, it’s a good time to thank your Representatives if they voted “nay” today — or let them know you’re disappointed if they voted “yea.”. Here’s the roll-call vote.

  • The US Capitol switchboard at 202-224-312 is a good option if you want to hone — or just call their DC or local office directly.
  • The Representative Directory links off to their websites, if you prefer to use a webform,

Your message doesn’t have to be fancy! Here are sample scripts.

If your representative voted “no”, thank them!

I’m [NAME], and I’m a constituent from [CITY]. I want to thank [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] for voting against the three-week extension to FISA Section 702. This is our best chance yet to reform FISA, and there’s broad bipartisan support for a warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole. When the House takes up this issue again, please continue to vote against any reauthorization that does not include these reforms

If your representative voted “yes” and is a Republican, let them know you’re disappointed!

I’m [NAME], and I’m a constituent from [CITY]. I  I was very disappointed that [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] voted for a reauthorization of FISA Section 702 without any reforms on June 11. Reforms like a warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole have broad bipartisan support; 19 Republicans voted against this extnesion, and I was really hoping [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] would be one of them.

When the House takes up this issue again, please against any reauthorization unless it includes these reforms.  Now more than ever in the era of mass AI, personal privacy and civil liberties must be protected.

If your representative voted “yes” and is a Democrat, let them know you’re disappointed and highlight the threat of the Trump administration!

I’m [NAME], and I’m a constituent from [CITY]. I  I was very disappointed that [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] voted for a reauthorization of FISA Section 702 without any reforms on June 11. The Trump administration has shown they can’t be trusted, and their nominee for Director of National Intelligence is unqualified. Reforms like a warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole have broad bipartisan support.

When the House takes up this issue again, please against any reauthorization unless it includes these reforms.  Now more than ever in the era of mass AI, personal privacy and civil liberties must be protected.

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Another short-term FISA extension? It looks unlikely … but never say never

June 11, 2026

UPDATE: House vote on reauthorization fails 198-218. Good news! Thanks to everybody who took action!

“Republicans just blocked a five week FISA extension in order to cover up ongoing FISA abuses.”

— Senator Ron Wyden, on Bluesky

“Americans have made themselves clear — they want their basic right to privacy respected. I am a NO on the FISA Section 702 extension.”

— Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, on Bluesky

“The House will vote Thursday on a three-week extension of a key surveillance program a day ahead of its expiration, Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday.

But leaders of both parties expect the measure to fail, risking a first-ever lapse of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as the House prepares to leave for recess until June 23.”

— House will vote Thursday on expected-to-fail surveillance patch, Meredith Lee Hill and Jordain Carney in Politico

Whoa baby. Things always get wacky as we get close to the FISA deadline, and this year is no exception. Democratic leadership in both chambers have consistentlysaid that Trump’s plan to install Bill Pulte as Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is a dealbreaker on FISA. On Tuesday afternoon Speaker Johnson went to the White House to meet with Trump, after which Trump … moved up Pulte’s starting date?!?!?!

Unsurprisingly, that didn’t change any minds. So on Wednesday morning, Trump asked for a short-term extension to give time to nominate somebody for the permanent DNI position — while also directing Pulte to downsize the agency. Hmm.

Sen. Wyden attempted to break the deadlock with two proposals, including one for a five-week extension with just some transparency requirements. Because of the short timeframe, though, the only way to get these through the Senate would be by unanimous consent … and Sen. Conryn said no. After that, Speaker Johnson scheduled a vote for Thursday on a three-week extension. Because it’s going directly to the floor (he doesn’t have enough Republican votes to get it through Rules), it will need a two-thirds majority to pass, and as long as nothing happens on the Pulte front that’s very unlikely. Even if it somehow passes the House, it would still have to get through the Senate … which is also very unlikely.

Since the deadline for FISA Section 702 reauthorization is Friday, June 12, Republicans claim that not passing an extension will cause the sky to fall. That’s nonsense; as the Brennan Center for Justice discusses in detail, Section 702 Surveillance Will Continue Until March 2027 Even if the Statute Lapses.  Whether or not they pass a short-term extension, they can take another try at it once Trump names a DNI, or when the DNI is confirmed and Pulte is gone, or in the lame-duck session, or early next year with a new Congress. So on the one hand, whatever.

Looking at it differently, though, a lapse would be a big win reformers. Intelligence agencies and surveillance hawks hate hate hate the idea of reforms, but warrant requirement and closing the data broker loophole both have bipartisan support in Congress — and are overwhelmingly popular with the public. A lapse increases the chance that reformers will be able to force a vote.

But, never say never. There’s still plenty of time for a surprise, either this week or when Congress comes back after a short recess. Stay tuned!

And, if you get a chance, call your representatives. You can use the US Capitol switchboard at 202-224-312, call your legislators office directly. or use calling tools from Indivisible and QuitGPT. Here’s a short script:

Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a constituent from [Your City, State]. I am calling today to ask that reject any extension to FISA Section 702 unless it includes key bipartisan reforms: requiring a warrant and closing the data broker loophole. Please do not be fooled by fake reforms that simply restate existing law, and please stop passing short-term extensions that just kick the ball down the road.

Get FISA Right

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Posted by jdp23

FISA update: the fake “deadline” is approaching quickly

June 8, 2026

“The battle over FISA 702 reauthorization continues. A bipartisan coalition of reformers continue to press to introduce a warrant requirement and close the data broker loophole. Surveillance hawks continue to press for reauthorization without any meaningful reforms. In April, 42 Democrats joined the majority of House Republicans in passed a three-year authorization without meaningful reforms — boooooo!!!!! Fortunately the Senate said no, and so at the last moment they passed a 45-day extension. With only ten days left, time’s running out to come to agreement — or let the statute lapse. “

— FISA Reauth down to the short strokes, June 1

“Senate Republicans early Friday could not muster enough votes to move forward on a long-term reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, leaving the key surveillance power, which expires next week, in limbo as both chambers leave the Capitol for the weekend.”

— FISA reauthorization stalls in early-morning Senate vote, Savannah Behrmann in Roll Call, June 5

“Next week it gets real.”

–Sen. Majority Leader Thune, quoted in GOP leadership’s FISA jam on Punchbowl News, June 5

“I’ll be fighting like hell between now and June 12 to ensure Congress doesn’t cave and renew Section 702 of FISA without real reforms. Security and liberty aren’t mutually exclusive, and it seems like Congress is finally starting to understand that.”

— Sen. Ron Wyden, on Bluesky

Once again FISA reauthorization is going down to the wire. Early last week there were reports that Sen. John Warner had convinced enough Senate Democrats to support a “compromise” (ha-ha) three-year extension without any real reforms, hoping that enough Democrats would also cross over in the House to pass it. But once Bill Pulte — with no intelligence experience and a track record of abusing data to target the President’s opponents — was installed as Acting Director of National Intelligence and nominated for the permanent role — Democrats in both chambers drew the line. And time is running out to get agreement by the June 12 “deadline”. What a mess.

It’s worth highlighting that the “deadline” isn’t real. Even if Section 702 doesn’t get reauthorized by June 12, the surveillance continues for another nine months: the FISA Court has already approved the certifications through March 2027. So Congress could re-authorize it during the lame duck session in December, or early next year. Still, surveillance hawks are still trying to use the fake “deadline” to create a sense of urgency.

In Punchbowl News, Jake Sherman et al suggest that “short of removing Pulte from the job, the only other way to assuage Democrats would be for Trump to name a permanent nominee who meets the qualifications outlined in the statute that created ODNI.” Very honestly, if it were any other adminstration I’d be assuming that was the game plan, and the cynic in me would be wondering whether the whole Pulte subplot was a ploy to let Democrats claim to win something and then get behind the previous “compromise” (ha-ha) deal. With this administration … who knows. But, it’s still a possibility to be nervous about.

Still, even if the Pulte mess somehow gets cleared up, there’s no guarantee that anything without significant reforms will be able to pass the House. Politico reports that House Freedom Caucus Republicans are restarting their social media campaign to demand a warrant requirement, so it might be challenging to get something through Rules. If that doesn’t happen, Speaker Johnson’s only option is a floor vote without a rule which would require a 2/3 majority — and with a majority of House Democrats also supporting reforms, it’s not clear how likely that is. Over the weekend Senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Grassley sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that Section 702 authorities might lapse, and urging the administration to “explore alternative legal authorities to continue collecting intelligence and, if necessary, to draft an executive order to address the gap left by the expiration of the law.” Rubio wrote back saying how bad that would be. It’s shameless posturing — the “deadline” isn’t real — but it’s worked in the past.

Of course they could pass something with real reforms. Proposed reform legislation including the GSRA, SAFE Act and Protect Liberty Act has bipartisan support, and the votes are probably there in both chambers. But I’m not holding my breath. Maybe they can find the votes for another short-term extension, but then again everybody in both parties is pretty sick of this nonsense so maybe not. The closer we get to midterm elections, the less time and energy Congress wants to spend on a polarizing issue like FISA. So we shall see.

In any case, it’s once again a great time to contact your legislators! This is a situation where calls are likely to have a lot more impact than emails; you can use the US Capitol switchboard at 202-224-312, call your legislators office directly. or use calling tools from Indivisible and QuitGPT if you prefer. Both the House and Senate will be voting, so if you have time please call your Senators as well as your Representative!

Here’s a simple script.

Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a constituent from [Your City, State]. I am calling today to ask that reject any extension to FISA Section 702 unless it includes key bipartisan reforms: closing requiring a warrant and closing the data broker loophole. Please do not be fooled by fake reforms that simply restate existing law, and please stop passing short-term extensions that just kick the ball down the road. Instead, support real reform like the GSRA — which has bipartisan support in both chambers.

Get FISA Right

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Posted by jdp23

FISA Reauth down to the short strokes: new “deadline” June 12

June 1, 2026

The battle over FISA 702 reauthorization continues. A bipartisan coalition of reformers continue to press to introduce a warrant requirement and close the data broker loophole. Surveillance hawks continue to press for reauthorization without any meaningful reforms. In April, 42 Democrats joined the majority of House Republicans in passed a three-year authorization without meaningful reforms — boooooo!!!!! Fortunately the Senate said no, and so at the last moment they passed a 45-day extension. With only ten days left, time’s running out to come to agreement — or let the statute lapse.

It’s important to realize that the June 12 “deadline” is fake: FISA certifications have already been renewed until March 2027 even if Congress doesn’t act. But the closer we get to midterm elections, the less time and energy Congress wants to spend on a polarizing issue like FISA. So reformers have a lot of leverage now, and proposed reform legislation including the GSRA, SAFE Act and Protect Liberty Act has bipartisans support. But there’s also a lot of pressure on Congress to pass something.

Which means that s a great time to contact your legislators! This is a situation where calls are likely to have a lot more impact than emails; you can use the US Capitol switchboard at 202-224-312, call your legislators office directly. or use calling tools from Indivisible and QuitGPT if you prefer. Both the House and Senate will be voting, so please call your Representative as well as your Senator.

Here’s a simple script.

Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a constituent from [Your City, State]. I am calling today to ask that reject any extension to FISA Section 702 unless it includes key bipartisan reforms: closing requiring a warrant and closing the data broker loophole. Please do not be fooled by fake reforms that simply restate existing law, and please stop passing short-term extensions that delay real reform. Instead, support real reform like the GSRA — which has bipartisan support in both chambers.

Get FISA Right

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Posted by jdp23