House Republican lawmakers were left frustrated after 19 GOP colleagues blocked the chamber from advancing legislation to renew a key surveillance tool of the federal government. The failure of the bill to reform and renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act marked the seventh time a rule vote had failed in this Congress, a rarity not seen in two decades. Conservative privacy hawks opposed the bill due to concerns over the exclusion of an amendment requiring warrants for the purchase of U.S. citizens’ data from third-party data brokers. Despite the bill containing 56 major reforms of FISA 702, the group felt the reforms did not go far enough, leading them to vote against the rule. House GOP leaders were frustrated that their own members were taking down the rule, despite advocating for FISA reform, which could potentially lead to no reforms being passed.
Many House Republicans were critical of the tactics used by the small factions within the GOP who were blocking party legislation as a form of protest against their leadership. While conservative privacy hawks had valid concerns over the handling of the bill, some lawmakers felt that the constant opposition to bills undermined the credibility of the group. A rule vote, which usually falls along party lines, was used to prevent the renewal of the surveillance tool, even in cases where lawmakers opposed the bill but voted in favor as a procedural move. The group was not opposed to the underlying bill but rather the process and amendments that were not allowed to be brought to the floor for consideration.
The fight to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has put Speaker Mike Johnson in a difficult position between the House Judiciary Committee and its allies, and the U.S. intelligence community and national security hawks in Congress. While some Republicans have opposed the bill due to concerns over privacy infringement, others have argued that the tool is critical to national security. Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good expressed a preference for letting the tool expire rather than seeing it renewed without proper reforms. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner warned about the consequences of letting Section 702 expire, emphasizing its importance in national security efforts.
House GOP leaders are now considering their next steps, which may include a short-term extension of the current Section 702 program, or taking up the Senate’s renewal bill. Privacy hawks are pushing for as many amendment votes on the bill as requested to ensure all members have a say in shaping the legislation, even if those amendments may not pass the Democrat-controlled Senate. There is a great deal of misinformation about FISA, with some lawmakers clarifying that it is not a bulk data collection program but rather a tool focused on collecting data on foreigners abroad who pose a national security threat. Despite disagreements within the GOP, the future of the FISA renewal remains uncertain.
