--- title: Dianne Feinstein to Introduce Anti-Torture Legislation description: Sen. Dianne Feinstein will propose new legislation next Congress to prevent future Administrations from torturing its enemies. canonical: https://time.com/3654577/dianne-feinstein-torture-bill/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-06T15:28:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:17:55.557Z article:section: Politics og:title: Feinstein to Introduce Anti-Torture Legislation og:description: The outgoing Senate intelligence chairwoman will propose permanent restrictions on CIA practices. og:url: https://time.com/3654577/dianne-feinstein-torture-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac0b5a4d34edc033/69876f185f570f8061b143d5/460203188.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4830 og:image:height: 2717 og:image:alt: Dianne Feinstein og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Feinstein to Introduce Anti-Torture Legislation twitter:description: The outgoing Senate intelligence chairwoman will propose permanent restrictions on CIA practices. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac0b5a4d34edc033/69876f185f570f8061b143d5/460203188.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Feinstein to Introduce Anti-Torture Legislation > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8b9155ae-4b7b-44fc-b282-d2523bfa6d2a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jan 6, 2015 3:28 PM UTC  Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, talks with reporters after sharing a report on the CIA and it's torture methods, December 9, 2014. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, talks with reporters after sharing a report on the CIA and it's torture methods, December 9, 2014. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jan 6, 2015 3:28 PM UTC Outgoing Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein will propose new legislation next Congress to prevent future Administrations from approving torture. Outlined in a letter to President Obama on Dec. 30, the measures would prohibit the intelligence community from using enhanced interrogation techniques like water-boarding that aren’t listed in the Army Field Manual or allow the CIA to hold detainees on anything other than a short-term basis. The moves would give legislative backing to previous executive orders signed into law by Obama in 2009 and “close all torture loopholes,” according to the letter. Last month, Feinstein and other Democrats on the Intelligence Committee released its five-year report describing the George W. Bush Administration’s EITs as ineffective. “These recommendations are intended to make sure that the United States never again engages in actions that you have acknowledged were torture,” she wrote, according to a statement released Monday. Republicans, which will formally take over the Senate today, rebutted Feinstein’s torture report as a partisan affair and are unlikely to move on her proposals, which include other recommendations to increase executive and congressional oversight over the intelligence community. [Republicans](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marc-thiessen-democrats-lose-the-torture-debate/2015/01/05/5e5347ca-94da-11e4-927a-4fa2638cd1b0%5Fstory.html) have also pointed to a December Washington Post-ABC [poll](http://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/12/16/National-Politics/Polling/release%5F376.xml) which showed that a majority of Americans think that the CIA treatment of suspected terrorists was justified and that it would be in the future. Without legislation, the anti-torture actions approved by President Obama could be overturned by a future president with the stroke of a pen. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3654577/dianne-feinstein-torture-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3654577/dianne-feinstein-torture-bill/"},"headline":"Feinstein to Introduce Anti-Torture Legislation","datePublished":"2015-01-06T15:28:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:17:55.557Z","description":"Sen. 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