Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has introduced a bill that would repeal the controversial Patriot Act, which granted sweeping surveillance powers to federal agencies.
In a post on X, Luna announced the bill, called the “American Privacy Restoration Act,” as a way to “strip rogue intelligence officers of their extraordinary mass surveillance powers.”
Since the passage of the USA Patriot Act in the aftermath of 9/11, intelligence agency officials have used their mass surveillance tools to settle personal scores, interfere in elections, and spy on untold numbers of innocent Americans.
This abuse must come to an end!
BREAKING: Today, I introduced the “American Privacy Restoration Act” to FULLY REPEAL the Patriot Act and strip rogue intelligence officers of their extraordinary mass surveillance powers.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) May 7, 2025
Since the passage of the USA Patriot Act in the aftermath of 9/11, intelligence agency… pic.twitter.com/BeRDoQ442R
The lawmaker, in a press release, noted that “rogue actors within our U.S. intelligence agencies have used the Patriot Act to create the most sophisticated, unaccountable surveillance apparatus in the Western world.”
My legislation will strip the deep state of these tools and protect every American’s fourth amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. It’s past time to reign in our intelligence agencies and restore the right to privacy. Anyone trying to convince you otherwise is using ‘security’ as an excuse to erode your freedom.
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The bill would dismantle the Patriot Act and mandate that “each provision of law amended by such Act is amended to read as such provision read on October 25, 2001.”
The Patriot Act, passed just after the 9/11 terror attacks, was ostensibly aimed at improving the government’s ability to combat terrorism and strengthen national security. Its provisions deal with surveillance, information sharing, immigration enforcement, and other issues. However, critics point out that federal agencies have frequently abused the law because of the comprehensive surveillance powers it grants them.
The act makes it easier for the government to monitor phone calls, emails, and internet activity. In many cases, federal authorities are not required to first obtain a warrant to conduct these operations. For example, one provision empowers the FBI to collect “business records” such as phone metadata related to who you called, when, and for how long. They only have to claim the information is relevant to a terrorism investigation.
The legislation introduced “roving wiretaps,” which authorities used to surveil a target on multiple devices without having to obtain a new warrant for each one.
The law did away with barriers between agencies like the FBI, CIA, local law enforcement, and others. This allowed them to freely share intelligence. Before the law was enacted, there were legal restrictions on what type of information could be disseminated between agencies.
Under the law, banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions had to closely monitor transactions and report suspicious activities. The supposed goal was to make it harder for terrorists to funnel money through international banks.
The law grants immigration authorities more power to detain and deport immigrants suspected of engaging in terrorism. In some cases, the authorities can detain non-citizens without charging them if they are deemed a security threat.
Even further, Section 213 empowers law enforcement to search people’s homes or businesses without notifying them beforehand. The “delayed notice” warrant means officers can search for evidence if they decide that informing the target would jeopardize their investigation.
The NSA took full advantage of the law. The agency collected the phone records of millions of Americans without warrants. They conducted these operations without having evidence that their targets were linked to terrorism.
Former NSA analyst Edward Snowden in 2013 exposed the NSA’s PRISM program, which gathered metadata from phone companies like Verizon.
The act was used to target Muslim Americans and communities, in particular. Agencies surveilled Muslim Americans based on religious and ethnic profiling. In 2011, the FBI monitored mosques in California, using informants to spy on worshippers even though there was no evidence or suspicion of terrorist activity.
Rep. Luna's bill is badly needed. As the size and scope of the federal government continues to balloon to ridiculous levels, we need far more checks and balances. This is especially true when it comes to surveillance.
Supporters of the Patriot Act often used fear of terrorism to persuade the public to grant the governent more power. This has not turned out well. Several agencies have abused the provisions of the legislation to violate people’s rights.
I’m not optimistic that this bill will go anywhere. We still have far too many Republican and Democratic lawmakers who want the state to posses this level of power. Until this changes, the government will remain bloated.
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