On Wednesday, 19 far-right lawmakers objected to procedural hurdles known as rules that would prevent FISA and three other proposals from being debated and ultimately voted on this week.
Hardliners telegraphed that the House Rules Committee would sink a procedural vote if it did not include changes in the bill to reshape how these services monitor malicious foreign actors. It was conveyed in Warrantless Collection of Communications.
And they may have been emboldened by former President Donald Trump’s social media post on Wednesday morning denouncing the FISA law.
“Kill FISA. It was used illegally against me and many others. They spied on my campaign!!!” he wrote in Truth Social.
Trump supporters falsely claim that without reforms, a “weaponized” Justice Department will remain under President Biden. Targeting Trump and other conservatives. However, the spy agency does not have the authority to surveil U.S. citizens under FISA.
Asked whether President Trump’s influence was having a negative impact on the reauthorization process, Johnson (R-La.) told reporters, “It’s never beneficial for the majority party to repeal its own rules.” I just want to say no,” he said.
The FISA vote marks the seventh time this year that Republicans have sunk the rules before the bill is considered. The tactic is now commonplace as the majority has weathered procedural hurdles without pushback for two decades, raising questions about House Republicans’ ability to govern and Mr. Johnson’s control over rank-and-file members. Historically, majorities have supported passing rules that allow floor debate, even if they opposed the final passage of the bill. The issue has forced Johnson to push the substantive bill into a “suspension calendar,” relying on a two-thirds majority that includes Democrats to pass it.
Figuring out how to reauthorize FISA amid battles within the House Republican conference over privacy and national security poses even more difficult calculations for Mr. Johnson. But Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and other far-right members of the House Freedom Caucus ousted him based on how he would move forward with a bill to reauthorize FISA and provide additional deployments. His appointment as a speaker is in doubt, as he is considering whether it is worth doing so. He funds foreign allies such as Ukraine and Israel.
Republicans walked out of the party’s second meeting on FISA on Wednesday without agreeing on a future direction. Lawmakers described the hour-long meeting as “tense,” “a venting session,” and a “show.” Several Republicans condemned their colleagues who opposed the rule and this week froze any legislative action.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) was the sharpest critic, calling on leadership to reimpose norms that would lead to penalties for the more than 20 Republicans who voted against it. Such resolutions are essential to the governance of the House.
“It will re-establish principles and impose sanctions on those who violate those principles,” McClintock told reporters afterward. “It could impact committee assignments and it could impact Republican conference membership.”
Mr. Johnson forcefully urged him to do so, according to people who were in the room and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the private meeting. The repeal of this rule does not mean that FISA will not be updated eventually. But the fight is also delaying a key vote on Ukraine funding due to take place next week.
Johnson passed the reauthorization (which currently does not include the warrant clause sought by hardliners and proposed by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio)) in the Rules Committee this week, and is open to possible changes. There were plans to allow several bills to be put to a vote. Before the final pass. But the Rules Committee on Wednesday did not take up Davidson’s proposal, and leadership promised a solo vote at a later date.
FISA and Ukraine violently Republicans are divided and unable to find consensus as the far right seeks ideological purity in the bill, which also needs approval from the Democratic Senate and White House.
“He is the leader of the opposition party opposed to the Biden administration, and we expect him to lead the Biden administration’s agenda, not pass it,” Greene said after meeting with Johnson early Wednesday. I’m doing it,” he said. Greene said she supports the rule but plans to vote against final passage, unless the bill providing funding to Ukraine is brought to the floor or the warrant provisions are included in the final FISA bill. He is threatening to move forward with a motion to remove the chair.
At the meeting, she urged the chair to halt consideration of the current FISA bill, but the chair did not heed her warnings.
“If he funds the deep state and warrantless espionage against Americans, he will continue to convince Republican voters across the country that he will continue to spy on President Trump and spy on hundreds of thousands of Americans.” “It tells us that there will be more acts,” she said. “This will not be acceptable to Republicans.”
The far-right is furious that Johnson, a self-described MAGA Republican, has reversed policy issues he previously voted against.
Johnson told reporters he supported warrant reform as a member of the Judiciary Committee after seeing the FBI’s “egregious abuse” on the issue. But as a speaker, he said he now receives intelligence at the highest level and has “come to understand the need for Section 702 of FISA and how important it is to national security.
“It gave me a different perspective,” he said. “It’s part of the process and you have to be well-informed.”
The divide over FISA reauthorization stems from the debate over whether to amend Section 702 of the Act. Post-9/11 regulations allowed U.S. spy agencies to monitor only foreign non-citizens suspected of threatening national security. At issue is whether spy agencies can analyze communications by Americans who may have been involved in foreign threats, which privacy advocates on the far right and left argue is unconstitutional.
Many Republicans are seeking to reform FISA, acknowledging that the spy agency has sometimes abused its powers. But far-right members appear to misunderstand the agency’s authority, often making platitudes and falsely accusing U.S. agencies of intentionally spying on Americans. National security hawks have accused their colleagues of not understanding how Section 702 works, saying such warrant requirements have a significant impact on the agency’s ability to thwart potential terrorist activity. claims.
The two sides have been skirmishing over the issue for months, leading House Republican leaders to delay consideration of the measure twice and pass an extension to prevent the reauthorization from expiring.
House Republicans expressed frustration that without a solution, they would ultimately have to pass another FISA extension without amendments or take up a bipartisan bill introduced by the Senate. Those on the far right favor allowing FISA to expire in exchange for supporting any measure that does not include their demands.
“Anyone who supports shutting down FISA and blinding us to the threat of terrorism will have no choice but to do so,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement after the House vote. If we let our guard down, we equally bear the brunt of future disasters that are certain to occur.” Vote.
Mariana Alfaro and Paul Kane contributed to this report.
