Before becoming member of the German Parliament, he used to work in police services and also as head of division in the State Ministry of the Interior of Baden-Württemberg.

In April 2014, he briefly served as head of the German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal but stepped down after six days.

[citation needed] In September 2016, Binninger announced that he would not stand in the 2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

"[3] In late 2016, Binninger was one of the driving forces behind a long-delayed reform package for Germany's BND, allowing for interception of communications of foreign entities and individuals on German soil and abroad which pass through the Deutscher Commercial Internet Exchange (DE-CIX) in Frankfurt.

Indeed, Binninger unexpectedly resigned in response, saying that he stepped down to protest opposition efforts to turn the committee into a "Snowden circus."