Des Moines Sun

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to revise its procedures for congressional attendance at Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) proceedings. Their request comes ahead of the expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is set for April next year.

The lawmakers expressed concern that current DOJ procedures, first established by the Biden administration in November 2024 and continued under the current administration, limit congressional oversight and do not align 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,” Grassley and Durbin wrote.

RISAA was signed into law in April 2024. It requires that select members of Congress and designated staff be allowed to attend FISC proceedings for oversight purposes. In November 2024, DOJ introduced a policy mandating that members agree to several requirements before being permitted to observe FISC sessions—a policy still upheld by the Trump administration.

According to Grassley and Durbin, some key DOJ policies include barring members from sharing information with colleagues or their staff; restricting requests for information or documentation during proceedings; permitting DOJ staff to remove observers at their discretion; limiting how many congressional observers may attend at one time; prohibiting designated staff from attending alongside their member; and forbidding note-taking even though classified notebooks are allowed for congressional staff.

Section 5(d) of RISAA specifically states that specified members of Congress and designated staff must be allowed access to any proceeding held by either court. This provision was added during Section 702’s reauthorization in 2024 to ensure Congress can perform effective oversight.