A crucial vote on a bill to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was unsuccessful on the House floor on Wednesday, further highlighting the ongoing Republican divisions during Speaker Mike Johnson’s tenure.
Nineteen Republicans defied party leadership and cast their votes against the measure, even though Johnson had stressed that the legislation aimed to reform the FISA program and was crucial for national security. Ultimately, the vote resulted in a tally of 193-228.
“We are going to regroup and come up with a new plan,” Johnson informed reporters following the defeat. “We cannot let Section 702 of FISA expire. It is crucial for national security. I believe that the majority of members recognize this.”
He added that it is never beneficial for the majority party to undermine its own rule.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is a federal law that lays down protocols for gathering intelligence on foreign nationals. However, it may also inadvertently lead to the collection of information on American citizens who have been in contact with these individuals under surveillance.
Hard-line Republicans are against reauthorizing FISA without an amendment that would mandate the intelligence community to acquire an extra warrant for accessing the data of American citizens. Certain civil liberties groups, like the ACLU, have also advocated for similar reforms. The bill that was voted on Wednesday did not incorporate the warrant amendment.
The intelligence community has warned that adding another warrant requirement could cause a significant backlog in the FISA process and potentially bring the program to a halt.
In the lead-up to the vote, Former President Donald Trump exerted increased pressure on GOP lawmakers, urging them to oppose the legislation.
In a recent post on his conservative social media site, Trump expressed his frustration with the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page, a former campaign adviser. He called for the abolition of FISA, emphasizing his strong opposition to the agency’s practices.
During a closed-door conference meeting earlier on Wednesday, Johnson attempted to persuade House Republicans on the FISA legislation, despite facing increasing opposition, as reported by numerous members.
House Republican leadership is facing an embarrassing situation as the fourth rule vote has failed during Johnson’s six months as the speaker.
In a typical House practice, every Democrat also cast their vote against this procedural vote, aligning with the tradition of the minority party opposing the procedural votes of the majority.
The Democratic leadership and the White House have expressed their strong support for the reauthorization of FISA, indicating that a majority of Democrats would most likely vote in favor of extending FISA when the legislation is officially brought up for a vote.
Speaking with reporters at the White House on Tuesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan presented his argument for Congress to reauthorize FISA.
According to Sullivan, losing 702 of FISA would result in a significant loss of crucial intelligence that is necessary for identifying and countering the threats that Americans rely on the government to handle.
Sullivan provided a comprehensive list of examples that highlight various threats to the homeland. These include terrorist threats, the influx of deadly drugs into American communities through fentanyl supply chains, hostile governments recruiting spies within our borders, transnational repression by authoritarian regimes, infiltrations of critical infrastructure, attempts by adversaries to illicitly acquire sensitive dual-use and military commodities and technology, ransomware attacks targeting major American companies and nonprofits, and Russian war crimes, among others.