To amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and for other purposes.
HB9115 would extend the current authorities of Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by moving the sunset dates from June 12, 2026 to June 12, 2029. In addition to reauthorizing those surveillance authorities, the bill adds new restrictions and procedures governing Section 702 collection, especially as it relates to communications of U.S. persons. It would prohibit intentional targeting of U.S. persons under Section 702, require stronger probable-cause-based pathways for collecting U.S.-person communications in certain circumstances, and direct the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence to establish procedures for determining probable cause.
The bill also creates new oversight and compliance mechanisms. It requires the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review implementation every 90 days and report quarterly to Congress, expands criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure, retention, querying, or falsification of compliance records, and requires new Attorney General procedures to ensure congressional access to FISA Court proceedings. It further mandates a GAO audit of Section 702 targeting procedures and technical implementation. Separately, the bill includes a Federal Reserve Act provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, while allowing certain private, open, permissionless dollar-denominated digital assets and setting a sunset date of December 31, 2031 for that prohibition.
The bill’s impact on state laws is minimal to none, because it primarily amends federal surveillance and banking statutes. Its main legal effect would be on federal intelligence collection practices, FISA Court oversight, criminal enforcement for misuse of classified surveillance information, and Federal Reserve authority regarding digital currency. Affected parties would include the FBI, the intelligence community, the Department of Justice, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Congress, the Federal Reserve, and potentially U.S. persons whose communications are collected or queried under Section 702.
No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment in the materials supplied. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to blend two politically salient themes: tighter privacy and civil-liberties protections around surveillance, and a prohibition on a central bank digital currency. Those features suggest support from lawmakers concerned about government surveillance and digital currency overreach, while also preserving and extending core foreign-intelligence authorities.
The most notable points of contention are likely to be the new limits on Section 702 collection and querying, the added criminal penalties for unauthorized queries and compliance misstatements, and the requirement for attorney approval of FBI queries using U.S.-person query terms. Supporters may view these as necessary safeguards and accountability measures; critics may argue they could hinder intelligence operations or create compliance burdens. The CBDC prohibition is also likely to be controversial, since it would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail digital dollar absent further congressional authorization.
HB9115 would amend multiple federal statutes, chiefly the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 and related provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to extend Section 702 authorities through June 12, 2029 while imposing new restrictions on U.S.-person targeting, querying, retention, and use of collected information. It would also add new criminal penalties and oversight requirements, require GAO review of targeting procedures, and alter congressional access procedures for FISA Court proceedings. In addition, it would amend the Federal Reserve Act to prohibit issuance of a central bank digital currency or substantially similar digital asset, subject to a limited exception for private, open, permissionless dollar-denominated currency and a sunset date.
No votes or committee discussion were provided, so there is no recorded sentiment from legislative debate in the supplied materials. From the bill text, the measure appears designed to appeal to both surveillance reform advocates and opponents of a Federal Reserve-issued digital currency, while also preserving the underlying foreign-intelligence authorities that many security-focused lawmakers support. Overall, the bill reads as a compromise between reauthorization and tighter oversight, but with some provisions that are likely to draw strong support and strong opposition from different factions.
The main areas of contention are the bill’s new restrictions on Section 702 surveillance, especially the prohibition on intentionally targeting U.S. persons, the probable-cause requirements for certain collection, and the added penalties for unauthorized querying and compliance misrepresentation. Privacy and civil-liberties advocates would likely favor these changes, while intelligence and law-enforcement supporters may argue they constrain operational flexibility. The Federal Reserve digital currency ban is another major flashpoint: critics of CBDCs would likely support it as a privacy and anti-surveillance measure, while proponents of a digital dollar or broader monetary innovation may oppose the prohibition.