WASHINGTON — A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion dated March 17, 2026, remains classified after the date by which federal law appears to require its release. The American Prospect reported Sept. 24 that the statutory deadline to declassify the opinion passed on Sept. 13. As of Sept. 25, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had not published it.
The opinion concerns Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the program that collects communications of foreigners abroad. According to The New York Times, which cited unclassified administration talking points sent to Congress, the judge objected to filtering tools that agencies with access to the raw data built to let analysts process messages.
The ruling requires the agencies to re-engineer those tools to comply with the rules for queries about Americans, the Times reported.
The law sets a 180-day limit
Under 50 U.S.C. § 1872, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Attorney General, must conduct a declassification review of any surveillance court opinion that contains a significant construction of law. The review must be finished “as soon as practicable, but not later than 180 days” after it begins. Congress added the 180-day limit in the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, signed April 20, 2024.
The statute lets the government release an opinion in redacted form. It also allows the DNI to waive release to protect national security or intelligence sources and methods. A waiver requires the Attorney General to publish an unclassified statement summarizing the court’s legal interpretation. Declassified Now found no such statement for the March opinion.
Sept. 13 falls 180 days after the opinion’s date. The statute counts the 180 days from the start of the review, not from the date of the opinion. ODNI has not said publicly when its review began.
Earlier commitments passed without a release
The deadline is the second release target the opinion has missed. On April 30, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) secured a commitment from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) as Congress moved a 45-day extension of Section 702.
In their letter, the committee leaders wrote that they expected the review to be completed, and the opinion released, “within 15 days,” Nextgov/FCW reported. The House passed the extension 261-111.
That window closed on May 16 without a release, according to the advocacy group Demand Progress.
In written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department and the DNI anticipated releasing the opinion before the statutory deadline, The American Prospect reported.
The office changed hands during the review. Jay Clayton, who succeeded Tulsi Gabbard, was sworn in as DNI on Aug. 3, according to ODNI.
Last year’s opinion came out in time
The surveillance court approved the previous set of Section 702 certifications on March 18, 2025. ODNI released that opinion, with redactions, on Sept. 12, 2025, “pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 1872.” That release came 178 days after the opinion’s date. In it, the court found that FBI reforms, including some required by the 2024 law, “seem to be improving” the bureau’s query compliance record.
Background
Section 702 lapsed at midnight on June 12, 2026, The Record reported. It was the first lapse since Congress enacted the program in 2008. The court’s March 2026 approval of the program for another year likely lets existing orders continue, The Record reported, though that reading could be challenged in court. The administration has told Congress the program could go dark if lawmakers do not act by November, Politico reported Sept. 16.
Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice told The American Prospect that the administration’s response to the deadline “was to literally ignore it.” Donald Bell of the Project on Government Oversight told the outlet the missed deadline is part of why pressure to reauthorize the program without changes is “falling flat on Capitol Hill.”
What’s next: ODNI has not announced a release date for the opinion. The administration has said Section 702 collection could stop in November without new legislation.
Filed under: Office of the Director of National Intelligence / Department of Justice
Sources
- 50 U.S.C. § 1872, “Declassification of decisions, orders, and opinions” (as amended by Pub. L. 118-49)
- ODNI — “ODNI Releases March 2025 FISC Section 702 Certification Opinion and Related Procedures,” Sept. 12, 2025
- FISC opinion approving the 2025 Section 702 certifications, March 18, 2025 (redacted, PDF)
- ODNI — 2026 press releases (includes “Jay Clayton Sworn In As Director Of National Intelligence,” Aug. 3, 2026)
- The American Prospect — “Trump Administration Ignores Statutory Deadline to Declassify FISA Court Opinion,” Sept. 24, 2026
- Nextgov/FCW — “House passes 45-day FISA extension after senators secure declassification deal,” April 30, 2026
- Sen. Ron Wyden — “Wyden Secures Commitment to Release Classified Surveillance Opinion Before FISA 702 Debate”
- Demand Progress — “Trump Admin Misses Friday Deadline to Declassify Alarming FISA Court Opinion,” May 16, 2026
- The American Prospect — “Surveillance Reform Hinges on How Congress Defines ‘Query,'” May 11, 2026 (summarizing The New York Times, April 9, 2026)
- The New York Times — Section 702 surveillance court ruling, April 9, 2026
- The Record — “Major US surveillance program set to lapse,” June 12, 2026
- Politico — “Key spy law could go dark if Congress doesn’t act by November, Trump admin says,” Sept. 16, 2026