The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday called for the panel to hear directly from Trump administration officials about a powerful but controversial surveillance authority that sunsets in April.
In a letter, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., urged Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, to hold a hearing with senior executive branch officials on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect digital communications of foreigners located outside the country.
Durbin asked that such a hearing feature senior executive branch officials who could provide answers to questions about the effectiveness of current safeguards and “the extent to which government is continuing to use this authority to collect and search Americans’ private communications without a warrant.”
