The House took an important first step Friday toward reauthorizing legislation that would extend the expiration date of the warrantless surveillance law, which national security officials say is essential to the fight against terrorism. The vote came two days after the previous attempt failed.
Hoping to salvage the bill before it expires next week, House Speaker Mike Johnson has proposed a shorter extension of two years instead of five, a move that has the support of far-right Republicans who blocked the bill earlier this week. did.
On a party-line vote of 213-208, the House agreed to take up a new version of the bill that expands on a portion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act known as Section 702. This paved the way for Friday's debate on the proposed bill. Making changes to a bill before a final vote on passage.
Friday's primary vote puts the measure on track after former President Donald J. Trump this week implored lawmakers to “kill” FISA, accusing government officials of using it for spying purposes. hinted that he had returned.
Mr. Johnson's two-year bill was an attempt to appease far-right Republicans who believe Mr. Trump will become president again the next time the law expires.
On the House floor, Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas and chairman of the Rules Committee, praised the shorter reauthorization period envisioned in the bill. He credited the idea of shortening the renewal to two years to Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, an influential member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
“That's important,” Burgess said. “The reforms included in the new FISA reauthorization will be reevaluated in the next Congress to see if they are actually working.”
Johnson also released a document just before Friday morning's vote touting the bill as “the largest intelligence reform package since FISA was launched in 1978.”
Still, intelligence agencies are urging Congress to pass reauthorization of the bill before the program enters a kind of legal impasse where the outcome of court challenges is unclear.
At issue is a debate that has roiled Congress for months. Under Section 702, the government is authorized to collect the messages of noncitizens abroad without a warrant, even if the subject is communicating with a U.S. citizen.
As a result, the government may collect Americans' private messages without a warrant. Although there are restrictions on the search and use of that material, the FBI has inappropriately queried information about Black Lives Matter protesters and people suspected of attending the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, in recent years. repeatedly violate these restrictions. Riot.
The FBI has since strengthened its systems to reduce the risk of referrals that violate its standards, and the bill under consideration would codify those changes, add reporting requirements and create a repository of raw information. This will limit the number of employees who have access.
But reformers, including both progressive Democrats and liberal-leaning Republicans, added a requirement to prohibit warrantless inquiries into repositories about the contents of Americans' communications, with certain narrow exceptions. I'm thinking of doing it.
“Why are we rushing to do this today?” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said she supports the warrant request. She added, “I think there's a reason why we're being hyped here today. It's to prevent the Constitution from being applied to FISA.”
Critics, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, will have the opportunity to add a warrant requirement to the bill before a final vote on Friday.
National security officials said they were trying to find out more about U.S. phone numbers and email accounts communicating with foreign spies and terrorist suspects before they had enough evidence. Because they often use this program, they claim that doing so causes the program to malfunction. To meet the warrant's probable cause standard.
Ahead of the vote, a senior national security official on Friday argued on condition of anonymity that opponents were closely monitoring Congressional debates and wanted Congress to strip U.S. intelligence agencies of critical capabilities. .
Senior members of the House National Security Committee also resisted these changes, including Rep. Michael R. Turner (Ohio), the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes (Connecticut), the top Democrat. ing. They support more modest adjustments to the bill.
The House is also expected to vote on several other important amendments to the Oversight Act before voting on the extension itself. That includes legislation pushed by Turner and Himes that would expand the types of companies that can access foreign communications. Forced to participate in the program.