House votes to renew FISA spying tool after previous Republican outrage

WASHINGTON — The House voted to renew a powerful surveillance program on Friday, two days after a group of 19 conservative privacy hawks revolted against Republican leadership and blocked the legislation on the floor when their demands were not met.

The vote was 273-147 and was overwhelmingly bipartisan, with both Republicans and Democrats voting in favor of the legislation. Of those who supported the legislation, 126 were Republicans and 147 Democrats. It followed a dramatic vote to narrowly reject an amendment that would have required a surveillance warrant in more situations.

Earlier Friday, conservative rebels ended their blockade and allowed the bill to move forward after reaching a deal with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his staff. Under the agreement, the reauthorization period for spying powers – known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) – would be reduced to two years from the originally proposed five years.

Republicans said it would give former President Donald Trump, who said this week he wants to “kill” FISA, a chance to make his mark on the law if he wins back the White House.

“We just bought President Trump a chance,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a key Trump ally and one of the 19 insurrectionists. “The previous version of this bill would have kicked reauthorization beyond the Trump presidency. Now President Trump can fix the system that victimized him more than any other American.”

Before the vote, Johnson set up a secure room near the floor where lawmakers could review confidential documents.

Conservatives also secured a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment led by one of the 19, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., that would require authorities to obtain warrants to search the communications of U.S. citizens and permanent residents collected during surveillance of foreigners. on another continent. And Johnson agreed to hold a floor vote next week on a bill from Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, that would require the government to obtain a warrant to buy private data on U.S. citizens from brokers.

“I’m disappointed with where we are today, but it would be worse,” Davidson said in an interview after voting in favor of the procedural rule on Friday that he had helped sink two days earlier. “We don’t work in a think tank, we work in a legislature, so you make progress where you can.”

The bill is expected to go to the Senate next week, ahead of the April 19 deadline to renew or terminate Section 702 of FISA. The House will need to hold one more procedural vote before it can be sent. The successful House vote comes just hours before Johnson meets with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida resort for an event on “election integrity”; GOP lawmakers said they expect FISA to be among the other issues they will discuss.

Strange Companions for Privacy Rights

Before passing the bill, the House voted 212-212 on the bipartisan amendment proposed by a rare left-right coalition aimed at controlling the government’s use of warrantless surveillance of American citizens. The tied vote meant the amendment failed. In addition to Biggs, it was defended by Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Rep. Jerry Nadler, DN.Y.; Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Chief Justice Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Davidson.

The White House fought to kill the amendment, with Attorney General Merrick Garland and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan calling lawmakers on Friday morning encouraging them to vote against it, two sources familiar with the appeals said.

In the end, 128 Republicans and 84 Democrats voted for the amendment. Johnson voted against.

Officials told lawmakers it would prohibit the government “from accessing lawfully collected information already in its possession to identify and disrupt critical threats to the American people,” according to talking points a source provided to NBC News, which added that the move would make the US “less safe.”

Nadler, in a rare clash with the Biden White House, called the FISA bill “completely inadequate” and said it “does not represent real reform” without requiring a warrant. After speaking, Jayapal, the chairman of the Progressive Caucus, took the floor Friday to dispute the intelligence community’s arguments for the need for the current law, calling the changes a necessary balance between protecting security and civil liberties. . She said Congress must close a “finding loophole” that impedes Americans’ privacy.

Jordan, in a moment of camaraderie with his usual enemies, said he wants to “thank the Democrats” on his committee for “working together to defend a fundamental principle.”

But Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, sided with the White House and said passage of the amendment would mean “the Communist Party in China, Hezbollah and Hamas would be able to fully recruit in the United States.” as you would need a warrant for the government to access your communications.

“We would be blind,” Turner said. “Our nation would be insecure.”