These are the 37 Senators that voted to let the FBI seize your internet history without a warrant

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Caleb Chen
Senate votes against privacy

A key amendment to the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020 (H.R. 6172) that would have required authorities to obtain a warrant before gaining access to American internet browsing and search history just failed on the Senate floor by a single vote. For those that are unaware, key parts of the Patriot Act – namely the mass surveillance section – is currently unauthorized and needs to be reauthorized by Congress to stay in effect. The current bill under consideration to do that is called the US FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020 and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has snuck in an amendment that would allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) to seize internet search and browsing history if they claim it is tied to an active investigation. To try and stop this, Senators Wyden and Daines introduced their own amendment that would stop the FBI from being able to get that information without a warrant – as makes sense. That amendment needed 60 votes to pass, and only received 59 Wednesday afternoon.
Keep your online activity a secret with Private Internet Access VPN

37 Senators voted against an amendment that would have stopped the FBI from being able to seize your internet search and browsing history

All in all, 27 Republicans and 10 Democrats voted against the amendment and 4 senators were no-shows. One of the senators that didn’t vote is under self quarantine due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19. But where were the other 3 senators? Here’s who voted against the Wyden-Daines Amendment to the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020 that would have blocked McConnell’s plan to let FBI collect web browsing history without a warrant:

Carper, Thomas R. (D-DE)

Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D-PA)

Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)

Hassan, Margaret Wood (D-NH)

Jones, Doug (D-AL)

Kaine, Tim (D-VA)

Manchin, Joe, III (D-WV)

Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH)

Warner, Mark R. (D-VA)

Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)

Barrasso, John (R-WY)

Blackburn, Marsha (R-TN)

Blunt, Roy (R-MO)

Boozman, John (R-AR)

Burr, Richard (R-NC)

Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV)

Collins, Susan M. (R-ME)

Cornyn, John (R-TX)

Cotton, Tom (R-AR)

Fischer, Deb (R-NE)

Graham, Lindsey (R-SC)

Hyde-Smith, Cindy (R-MS)

Inhofe, James M. (R-OK)

Johnson, Ron (R-WI)

Lankford, James (R-OK)

McConnell, Mitch (R-KY)

Perdue, David (R-GA)

Portman, Rob (R-OH)

Roberts, Pat (R-KS)

Romney, Mitt (R-UT)

Rubio, Marco (R-FL)

Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL)

Thune, John (R-SD)

Tillis, Thom (R-NC)

Toomey, Patrick J. (R-PA)

Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)

Young, Todd (R-IN)

Contact your elected officials and tell them not to vote for the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020

While this amendment has failed, the bill it was a part of still hasn’t the House of Representatives. There’s still time to contact your elected officials and tell them not to vote for the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020 in its current form with Mitch McConnell’s privacy violating amendment in tow. The FBI and DOJ should not have access to the search and internet history of American citizens without a warrant, but that’s exactly what Congress is set to pass unless Americans step up and make their voices heard.

Comments are closed.

23 Comments

  1. . C Hurst

    not pass an amendment that you can without a warrant check history in a person’s computer and private phone the Patriot Act was written Too Fast Too Soon without people voting on the bill it is our country they have no right to pass bills without a boat

    4 years ago
  2. Concerned Citizen

    Next time could you please link to the official House.gov website for the amendment(s). This way it is kept up to date with the current progress.

    4 years ago
    1. Caleb Chen

      Thanks for your comment, Concerned Citizen! I’ve added a link to the govtrack bill tracker so people can keep abreast of the current progress and see the past progress (including in the Senate).

      4 years ago
  3. NCNative

    Term limits would rid us of most of these idiots.

    4 years ago
  4. James Mooney

    Over twice as many Republicans voted for it. I guess I was wrong on my guess that Republicans are more for people’s rights.

    4 years ago
  5. Brett Campbell

    Completely unconstitutional violation of our privacy rights! Absolute shame on all the despicable representatives who voted for it! SERVE THE PEOPLE OR GET THE HELL OUT OF OFFICE, VERMIN!

    4 years ago