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Two Democratic senators who have long overseen US intelligence say the government is illegally withholding a secret court’s findings from Congress until lawmakers renew America’s most sweeping surveillance program.

In March, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), for another year, after Congress failed to renew it. But the court objected to search filters that let federal agents read Americans’ messages without a warrant.

Wyden and Schiff say the administration owes Congress an explanation for the delay, and the names of the officials responsible, by November 6.

Meanwhile, 23 civil liberties and government accountability groups on Monday urged congressional leaders to refuse to reauthorize Section 702 “while the administration actively withholds legally mandated information about how the surveillance program operates.”