Biggs Reintroduces Bill Protecting Americans from Unwarranted Surveillance

Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) has reintroduced his "Fourth Amendment Restoration" Act to protect Americans from unwarranted surveillance.

First introduced by Rep. Biggs in 2023, the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act has several ambitious provisions, the most prominent of which is a complete repeal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

In turn, any federal official must obtain a warrant to surveil and search an American citizen, and those who violate this law will be punished with a $10,000 fine and/or five years in prison.

As Rep. Biggs explained in his press release, the previous Congress tried yet ultimately failed to reform Section 702 of the FISA Act, which authorized unwarranted surveillance of Americans after a tied vote.

However, the extension of Section 702 was shortened from five years to two, which former Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said would allow President Donald Trump an "at-bat" to reform the system.

"The previous version of this bill would have kicked reauthorization beyond the Trump presidency. Now President Trump gets an at-bat to fix the system that victimized him more than any other American," said Rep. Gaetz in April.

Nevertheless, in the statement reintroducing the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act, Biggs referenced the abuse of FISA warrants conducted by the FBI and other scandals, saying, "We cannot continue to provide our government with clandestine spying powers that violate the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens."

"We've uncovered countless FISA abuses in recent years. In 2021 alone, the FBI misused FISA 278,000 times to spy on American citizens – including Members of Congress, judges, and political donors. Our civil liberties are at stake. There is broad bipartisan support for Ben Franklin's notion that you can protect Americans' security and liberty at the same time," the Arizona Congressman continued.

Moreover, he chastised the Biden Administration as "corrupt" and said it "further expanded the opportunities for the government to spy on its citizens. As President Trump's inauguration draws closer, we must be ready to leap into action to restore the constitutional rights of Americans under an Administration that will work with us, not against us."

"In the 119th Congress, my colleagues and I will have another opportunity to ensure that Americans do not fall victim to continued warrantless surveillance by their own government. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the Trump Administration to ensure that these abuses are ended," Biggs concluded.