House passes 3-year FISA reauthorization that will face challenges in the Senate
The House on Wednesday passed a three-year reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act (FISA) by a vote of 235-191, but the bill could run into problems in the Senate.
A 10-day extension of the program's authorization will expire at midnight on Thursday.
The House bill expands criminal penalties for abuses of the controversial spy powers program and establishes a new FBI requirement to provide written statements for searches related to information collected on Americans.
The program allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant, including when those people are interacting with Americans.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the U.S. government believes it's a vital tool for protecting the country against "hostile foreign adversaries, including terrorists, proliferators, and spies, and to inform cybersecurity efforts."
"Two-thirds of the president's daily national security briefing comes from intelligence collected by that statute (Section 702 of FISA). We cannot allow it to go dark," House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
The House measure will be merged with a bill to ban the Federal Reserve from creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) -- a demand from GOP hardliners that could pose an issue in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday evening said the House's bill would be "very, very hard" for the Senate to pass and it will instead likely move forward on a 45-day clean authorization.
Thune said he's told House GOP leadership in the Senate could not move the bill because of its CBDC provisions.
"We're probably going to end up doing a short-term and probably send it back," Thune said.
It's unclear when the Senate will attempt to move the clean authorization. Both chambers are slated to leave town for a weeklong recess after Thursday's session.
