The House will soon vote on the reauthorization of a controversial surveillance program ahead of its expiration in nine days. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire on April 19th, lets US intelligence agencies spy on foreign communications without a warrant — sometimes ensnaring US citizens as well.
Previous negotiations over the FISA reauthorization grew so heated that in February, House Speaker Mike Johnson withdrew the bill from consideration. At issue were provisions intended to protect Americans’ privacy: one prohibiting data brokers from selling consumer data to law enforcement and another requiring a warrant to search Americans’ data. These amendments are not in the latest version of the bill, which was released on April 5th. The House Rules Committee nonetheless advanced the bill on Tuesday. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Politico that the bill would come to a vote on Thursday.
Per CQ Roll Call, Johnson praised the latest version of a bill in a letter to colleagues, saying it contains dozens of “specific reforms,” including new procedures to curtail the FBI and “institute unprecedented transparency across the FISA process.”
“If our bill fails, we will be faced with an impossible choice and can expect the Senate to jam us with a clean extension that includes no reforms at all,” Johnson wrote. “That is clearly an unacceptable option.”
Other lawmakers have pushed back at the idea that Section 702 is a warrantless surveillance program. The authority lets intelligence agencies spy on foreign communications without a warrant, meaning any Americans who correspond with intelligence targets can indeed end up having their communications surveilled as well.
“If you’re an American and you’re corresponding with ISIS, yes, if we’re spying on ISIS, your communications are going to be captured,” Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), the chair of the intelligence committee, said in an interview with CNN. “You would want us to do that. All Americans would want us to try to make certain that we keep ourselves safe.”
It’s unclear whether Johnson will be able to get other members of his party to fall in line. Some members of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus have joined libertarians and progressive Democrats in advocating for FISA reform. Former President Donald Trump has also waded in to the debate. “KILL FISA. IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
When the reauthorization was up for a vote in February, some House Republicans described the privacy amendments as nonnegotiable. “We have to have these amendments,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told Politico in February. “Like, there’s no way we’re not going to have them.”
Section 702 was last renewed in 2018.
Correction April 10th, 2:08PM ET: Due to an editing error, this story published before the final vote on the bill to greenlight debate on the bill for Section 702 renewal was called. The previous version of the article stated that “The House greenlit debate for the bill on Wednesday.”
Source: The Verge The House will vote on expanding warrantless wiretapping authority
