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S. 1460: FISA Judge Selection Reform Act of 2013

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S. 1460: FISA Judge Selection Reform Act of 2013

113th Congress · introduced 2013-08-01 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2013-08-01 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

FISA Judge Selection Reform Act of 2013

Plain summary

FISA Judge Selection Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, with respect to the appointment of judges to the court established by such Act (FISA Court), to: (1) increase from 11 to 13 the number of FISA Court judges, with one judge designated from each judicial circuit; (2) authorize a chief judge of a judicial circuit to submit to the Chief Justice of the United States the name of a district judge within such circuit to fill a FISA Court vacancy; (3) allow the Chief Justice to accept the proposed replacement judge or reject such replacement and request two additional names; (4) require the Chief Justice to fill the vacancy with one of the two additional named judges; and (5) require any judge appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review by the Chief Justice to be confirmed by five Associate Justices. Directs the Committee on Intercircuit Assignments of the Judicial Conference of the United States to study and report on how to ensure that judges appointed to the FISA Court and the FISA Court of Review are diverse and representative.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

FISA Judge Selection Reform Act of 2013

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] · 9 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] reported raising $771,465 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong113-s1460 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113