House-Passed NDAA Includes Amendment to Ban Pentagon from Circumventing Fourth Amendment

The House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes Rep. Warren Davidson’s (R-OH) amendment that would bar the Pentagon from purchasing Americans’ private data, which is considered a run around Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches.

House Republicans passed H.R. 2670 on mostly partisan lines, which was hailed by House Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK) as the first “Republican-only NDAA since Eisenhower.”

Davidson said his amendment would bar the Department of Defense from purchasing data that would otherwise require a “warrant, court order, or subpoena.”

“The amendment would otherwise end unauthorized surveillance practices. The government is currently circumventing the Fourth Amendment location data, internet browsing data, and other sensitive information. The so-called ‘data-broker loophole is a severe threat to the right to privacy in the United States. Freedom surrendered is rarely reclaimed, but we must defend our Fourth Amendment,” he said.

“If the government can buy its way around the Fourth Amendment there will be few meaningful limits on surveillance,” Davidson concluded.

Reps. Davidson and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) initially proposed the amendment to the NDAA.

The inclusion of Davidson’s amendment follows after the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray, which often focused on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as well as the government buying private data to circumvent the Fourth Amendment.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), questioned the FBI about these practices. Instead of answering the congresswoman’s questions, Wray largely refused to answer, saying his staff will brief her later:

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) cheered Jayapal’s grilling of Wray.

“That was terrific,” Gaetz said.