S. 4998: Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act of 2026

This bill would sharply limit how U.S. intelligence authorities can use certain surveillance powers against U.S. persons (generally, U.S. citizens and some other people with legal ties to the United States).

What it changes under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)

The bill would add a new section to FISA saying the government could not use FISA authorities to:

• conduct electronic surveillance of a U.S. person;
• carry out a physical search of property used exclusively by, or under the open and exclusive control of, a U.S. person;
• get approval for a pen register or trap-and-trace device to collect information about a U.S. person;
• compel production of tangible things, such as books, records, papers, or documents, concerning a U.S. person; or
• target a U.S. person for acquisition of information.

It would also bar officers from querying data collected under Section 702 of FISA using search terms tied to a U.S. person.

Limits on using intelligence-derived information

The bill would generally prohibit the government from using information about a U.S. person that was acquired or derived from FISA collection as evidence against that person in criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings, or as part of an investigation.

There is an exception: the person whose information was collected, if they are a U.S. person and an “aggrieved person” under the bill, could use that information in their own defense or in their own proceeding or investigation.

Changes affecting surveillance under Executive Order 12333

The bill would also restrict surveillance conducted under Executive Order 12333, or any successor order. In practical terms, it would:

• treat certain searches or acquisitions of U.S. persons as needing to happen only through the normal legal authorities already available for physical searches, communications content, non-content information, or business records;
• bar the government from using information about a U.S. person obtained or derived from EO 12333 surveillance as evidence against that person in legal proceedings or investigations;
• prohibit government entities or officers from querying communications content, non-content information, or business records of a U.S. person under EO 12333; and
• allow the U.S. person whose information was collected to use that information in their own case.

Effect on existing Fourth Amendment law

The bill says it should not be read to change existing Supreme Court law about exceptions to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement, including exigent circumstances.

Relevant Companies

None found.