House Republicans struggle with spy powers reauthorization
House Republicans are fighting among themselves over a controversial warrantless surveillance law that is set to expire in the coming days.
Despite opposition from some GOP hardliners, Speaker Mike Johnson is still trying to determine a path forward to muscle through an 18-month clean extension of the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
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."
The timing for floor action on the extension remains unclear.
House Republican leaders postponed a debate and a procedural vote on FISA that was scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the votes on FISA are likely to be pushed to Thursday.
The Senate will need to consider the legislation if the House passes it.
President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to back the measure and hosted a group of hardliners at the White House Tuesday night to find a path forward as the law is set to expire on Monday.
"I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor. We need to stick together when this Bill comes before the House Rules Committee today to keep it CLEAN!" Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday.
"Our Military Patriots desperately need FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield," Trump added. "It has already prevented MANY such Attacks, and it is very important that it remain in full force and effect."
CIA Director John Ratcliffe attended the House Republican closed-door conference meeting on Wednesday and also advocated for a clean extension of the program.
Hardline Republicans, who oppose a clean extension of the surveillance tool and demand reforms like a warrant requirement, were not convinced to change their position following the meeting.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland said "no" when asked if progress was made on FISA during the meeting.
"They have to deal with the FISA court's objection to the warrantless searches," Harris said.
There has been a continued debate over Section 702 because it sometimes allows the government to collect Americans' communications without a warrant.
"Discussions are ongoing still," Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona said leaving.
Rep. Keith Self of Texas, who attended the White House meeting on Tuesday night, said he does not believe a clean extension will pass.
"We'll see ... but, I don't think the clean extension will pass," he said.
After the meeting, Scalise suggested some "minor changes" could be made to the legislation to appease the holdouts but did not divulge specifics.
"FISA has been important for our country's national security," Scalise said. "We've put some important much needed reforms in place the last time it was up for reauthorization and what President Trump has asked is that now we reauthorize it with those reforms in place, and that's what we're working to do. So, we're having some final conversations. Not all of our members are quite there yet."
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said several Republicans "want to see further reforms" to the program.
"We feel like we need improvements. Obviously, we want greater protections for citizens with respect to warrants," he said. "We want to make sure that there's greater penalties, for example, for government officials who abuse their authority and power."
Scalise said Ratcliffe explained to Republicans how FISA is being "used in the real world to stop bad things from happening."
As he was leaving, Ratcliffe said the meeting "went great."
