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.
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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.

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23 Comments

  1. Sandi Brennan

    Sorry, but the wording in this article was so convoluted I couldn’t, for the life of me, decide what it was saying. If Collins voted AGAINST allowing our internet history going to the FBI without a warrant, why is she listed? To be a good writer it is not required to be WORDY………it is required to be CLEAR!

    4 years ago
    1. Caleb Chen

      The vote was against an amendment that would have removed the warrantless internet history searches from the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020.

      4 years ago
  2. Stephen Schwartz

    Crazy thinking

    4 years ago
  3. Greg Molenaar

    Over 50 years as a Democrat and the Clintons changed me to a Republican. The Obama years confirmed it, and Trump made me celebrate it! Then comes the RINO corruption like these and I vow to vot against all incumbents. Trump is an exception because the Dems are still left over Hillary Machinery!

    4 years ago
  4. Robert Harrison

    Vote AGAINST the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020! I would like to keep my RIGHT to privacy unless a warrant is applied for where there would be an active investigation or warranted suspicion.

    4 years ago
  5. Deb

    Stop invading my privacy!

    4 years ago