The FBI cut its warrantless searches of American data in half in 2023, according to a government report released on Tuesday. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s annual transparency report, the FBI conducted 57,094 searches of “US person” data under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act last year — a 52 percent decrease from 2022.

In a press briefing, a senior FBI official said that the drop was due to reforms the agency implemented in 2021 and 2022, The Record reports. Despite the drop in overall searches of Americans’ data, the report also notes that the number of foreign targets whose data could be searched in the Section 702 database rose to 268,590, a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The number of “probable cause” targets also increased significantly, from 417 in 2022 to 759 in 2023. Of those, 57 percent are estimated to be “US persons,” which includes US citizens and permanent residents.

Congress reauthorized Section 702 just after midnight on April 20th, minutes after the statute expired. In the months before Section 702 was set to expire, several members of Congress attempted to rein in the FBI’s ability to conduct warrantless searches of US citizens’ data. They clashed with legislators from the House Intelligence Committee, who argued that adding a warrant requirement would defang intelligence agencies. Negotiations over the warrant requirement grew so tense in February that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) withdrew the bill from consideration that month.

The House ultimately had three failed votes on Section 702 before it passed the bill that went to the Senate. Senators, too, attempted to introduce amendments that limited the scope of the FBI’s searches. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced separate amendments that would have imposed warrant requirements on searches involving Americans. Paul’s failed on an 11–82 vote; Durbin’s failed 42–50.

Section 702 is set to expire again in 2026.