Fourth Amendment: Digital Warrants and Data-Broker Surveillance

Both parties are exposed on inconsistency and self-interest, visible in recorded votes. In April 2024, an amendment from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) requiring a warrant before searching Americans' communications in the Section 702 database failed in the House on a 212-212 tie, broken against the amendment by Speaker Mike Johnson; 128 Republicans and 84 Democrats voted for the warrant requirement, and 86 Republicans and 126 Democrats voted against it, after the Attorney General and the National Security Advisor personally lobbied members to defeat it. RISAA then passed the House 273-147 and the Senate 60-34 without that warrant line. The same partisan split showed up on data brokers: the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, which would require a court order before government purchase of Americans' location and communications data from brokers, passed the House 219-199 with 123 Republicans and 96 Democrats in favor, then stalled in the Senate and was left out of RISAA's final text. The Innovation Party's delta is the same rule in and out of power: foreign intelligence against foreign targets remains available, but US-person searches and sensitive domestic data acquisition require judicial process, regardless of which party holds the votes to avoid it.