• Did Freedom Win? Yes
  • Voted for Freedom 75
  • Voted Against Freedom 19
This amendment greatly expands the instances under which amici curiae may be appointed to present some semblance of an adversarial process in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) proceedings. Obviously, it would defeat the point of a legitimate surveillance order to have the target be able to represent themselves in front of the FISC, but the Lee/Leahy amendment insists that amici with expertise in privacy and civil liberties be present to ensure a fair proceeding in their stead in a number of instances.

At their discretion, the FISC would be expected to appoint an amicus in FISA applications involving: new interpretations of law; First Amendment-protected activities; persons affiliated with political campaigns, religious organizations, or domestic new media; the use of new surveillance technologies; or other civil liberties concerns. This would greatly increase the likelihood that abuses of surveillance authorities, including both the NSA’s mass surveillance of Americans revealed by Edward Snowden and the FBI’s abuse of the same against President Trump’s campaign, would be discovered and flagged before they got out of hand.

The government would also be explicitly required to disclose all possible exculpatory evidence that may undercut the need for a surveillance order to both the FISC and the amicus. The importance of such a requirement is highlighted by both the Carter Page incident during the Trump campaign, in which information about Page being an intelligence asset was withheld from the FISC. Recent revelations that the FBI also withheld exculpatory evidence in their investigation of General Flynn, as well, further calls that the disclosure of such information be explicitly demanded.

Legislator's Votes

Voted for Freedom

Tammy Baldwin

Senator WI

Tammy Baldwin

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
John Barrasso

Senator WY

John Barrasso

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Michael Bennet

Senator CO

Michael Bennet

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Cory Booker

Senator NJ

Cory Booker

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Mike Braun

Senator IN

Mike Braun

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 100%
Sherrod Brown

Senator OH

Sherrod Brown

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Maria Cantwell

Senator WA

Maria Cantwell

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Ben Cardin

Senator MD

Ben Cardin

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Tom Carper

Senator DE

Tom Carper

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Bob Casey

Senator PA

Bob Casey

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Bill Cassidy

Senator LA

Bill Cassidy

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Susan Collins

Senator ME

Susan Collins

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Chris Coons

Senator DE

Chris Coons

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Kevin Cramer

Senator ND

Kevin Cramer

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Mike Crapo

Senator ID

Mike Crapo

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Ted Cruz

Senator TX

Ted Cruz

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Steve Daines

Senator MT

Steve Daines

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Dick Durbin

Senator IL

Dick Durbin

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 50%
Mike Enzi

Senator WY

Mike Enzi

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Joni Ernst

Senator IA

Joni Ernst

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Cory Gardner

Senator CO

Cory Gardner

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Chuck Grassley

Senator IA

Chuck Grassley

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Maggie Hassan

Senator NH

Maggie Hassan

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Josh Hawley

Senator MO

Josh Hawley

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Mazie Hirono

Senator HI

Mazie Hirono

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
John Hoeven

Senator ND

John Hoeven

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Ron Johnson

Senator WI

Ron Johnson

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Tim Kaine

Senator VA

Tim Kaine

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
John Kennedy

Senator LA

John Kennedy

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Angus King

Senator ME

Angus King

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Amy Klobuchar

Senator MN

Amy Klobuchar

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Mike Lee

Senator UT

Mike Lee

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 100%
Ed Markey

Senator MA

Ed Markey

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Bob Menendez

Senator NJ

Bob Menendez

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Jeff Merkley

Senator OR

Jeff Merkley

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Jerry Moran

Senator KS

Jerry Moran

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Lisa Murkowski

Senator AK

Lisa Murkowski

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Chris Murphy

Senator CT

Chris Murphy

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Rand Paul

Senator KY

Rand Paul

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 100%
David Perdue

Senator GA

David Perdue

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Gary Peters

Senator MI

Gary Peters

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Rob Portman

Senator OH

Rob Portman

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Jack Reed

Senator RI

Jack Reed

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Jim Risch

Senator ID

Jim Risch

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Jacky Rosen

Senator NV

Jacky Rosen

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Mike Rounds

Senator SD

Mike Rounds

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Brian Schatz

Senator HI

Brian Schatz

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Chuck Schumer

Senator NY

Chuck Schumer

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Tim Scott

Senator SC

Tim Scott

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Rick Scott

Senator FL

Rick Scott

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Jeanne Shaheen

Senator NH

Jeanne Shaheen

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Kyrsten Sinema

Senator AZ

Kyrsten Sinema

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Tina Smith

Senator MN

Tina Smith

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Dan Sullivan

Senator AK

Dan Sullivan

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%
Jon Tester

Senator MT

Jon Tester

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 66.7%
Thom Tillis

Senator NC

Thom Tillis

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Pat Toomey

Senator PA

Pat Toomey

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Tom Udall

Senator NM

Tom Udall

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Roger Wicker

Senator MS

Roger Wicker

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 0%
Ron Wyden

Senator OR

Ron Wyden

  • Voted for Freedom? Yes
  • Session Score 33.3%

Voted Against Freedom

Roy Blunt

Senator MO

Roy Blunt

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
John Boozman

Senator AR

John Boozman

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Richard Burr

Member

Richard Burr

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
John Cornyn

Senator TX

John Cornyn

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Tom Cotton

Senator AR

Tom Cotton

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Deb Fischer

Senator NE

Deb Fischer

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 33.3%
Jim Inhofe

Senator OK

Jim Inhofe

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Joe Manchin

Senator WV

Joe Manchin

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 50%
Pat Roberts

Senator KS

Pat Roberts

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Mitt Romney

Senator UT

Mitt Romney

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Marco Rubio

Senator FL

Marco Rubio

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
John Thune

Senator SD

John Thune

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 0%
Mark Warner

Senator VA

Mark Warner

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 33.3%
Todd Young

Senator IN

Todd Young

  • Voted for Freedom? No
  • Session Score 33.3%

Abstained