{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-durbin-call-on-doj-to-amend-restrictions-on-congressional-oversight-of-foreign-intelligence-surveillance-courts", "Grassley, Durbin Call on DOJ to Amend Restrictions on Congressional Oversight of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts", "2025-11-06", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 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).\n\n\u201cThe 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\u2019s primary committee of jurisdiction over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, we are troubled by the Department\u2019s 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,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nRISAA \u2013 signed into law in April 2024 \u2013 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.\n\nSome of DOJ's policies and procedures include:\n\nProhibiting members of Congress from sharing information with other members of Congress and members of their staff;\n\nRestricting members of Congress from requesting information or documentation from participants of FISC proceedings;\n\nAllowing DOJ staff to remove congressional observers, including members of Congress, from FISC proceedings at any time and at the sole discretion of DOJ;\n\nAllowing only a limited number of congressional observers to attend FISC proceedings at any one time;\n\nProhibiting designated staff from attending the same FISC proceeding as their specified member of Congress; and\n\nProhibiting note taking during proceedings, despite congressional staff\u2019s ability to maintain classified notebooks.\n\nRead Grassley and Durbin\u2019s letter to DOJ HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nSection 5(d) of RISAA requires DOJ to allow specified members of Congress and designated staff to \u201cattend any proceeding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or any proceeding of the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review.\u201d Section 5(d) was included in the 2024 reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA to protect Congress\u2019 ability to perform effective oversight over FISC proceedings.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-durbin-call-on-doj-to-amend-restrictions-on-congressional-oversight-of-foreign-intelligence-surveillance-courts"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4403131790459156, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}