Eighty-six House Republicans voted against an amendment to the FISA reauthorization bill, which would have added a warrant requirement to prevent the U.S. government from spying on Americans without their knowledge.

FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, recently grabbed headlines nationwide after conservatives pointed to the intelligence community’s illegal surveillance of the then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election. This surveillance, authorized by FISA, has been criticized for its role in perpetuating the “Russiagate” narrative against Trump’s presidency.

House Republicans believed the amendment, introduced by Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, would serve as a guardrail against the intelligence community’s abuse of power. Among the Republicans who voted for the legislation without the inclusion of Biggs’ amendment are Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emme and Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

“Today is a dark day for America,” said Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls in a statement after the final passage of FISA. “It is no secret that the DOJ and the FBI have used and abused FISA to spy on not only the greatest president of my lifetime, Donald J. Trump, but spy on everyday Americans. I could not, in good conscience, vote to give our nation’s weaponized DOJ the power to mass surveil the American people without significant reforms, such as a warrant requirement.”

READ THE LIST OF NAMES:

NEW: 86 Republicans just voted against @RepAndyBiggsAZ’s amendment to require a warrant to spy on Americans under FISA causing it to fail.

Here are the names: pic.twitter.com/6mAoJfnlac

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 12, 2024

FISA has been violated OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION TIMES with illegal searches and queries!

Our government needs a warrant requirement if it wants to collect data on its own citizens. Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights must reign supreme. pic.twitter.com/l3mSHe6BBR

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) April 11, 2024

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, publicly opposed the bill Wednesday, pointing to its illegal use against him and others during his campaign.

The saga continues …

Trump: “KILL FISA”

Graham: “it is clear that shutting down FISA would be the biggest national security mistake in the history of America”

— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) April 10, 2024

After Trump’s public disapproval, Republicans in the House voted down a procedural vote to advance the legislation for a final passage.

However, after winning many concessions from leadership during Thursday’s negotiations, many Republicans agreed to advance the bill. The revised bill now includes a two-year extension of Section 702 of FISA, a change from the original five-year plan.

The Rules Committee Print changes the FISA reauthorization from five years to two.

So, the 56 reforms incorporated by H.R. 7888 will be reevaluated by the next Congress.

They’ll be able to revisit these changes and reconfirm they are balancing civil liberties and security. pic.twitter.com/pttbvJUB73

— House Rules Committee (@RulesReps) April 12, 2024

Read the full text of the bill here.

With the surveillance bill expiring on April 19, Republicans were increasingly under pressure to muster enough votes to pass the law.

The GOP appears divided on proposed reforms, particularly regarding introducing a warrant requirement. While some, aligned with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, oppose such measures, others from the Judiciary Committee stress the importance of preventing FISA from being misused to spy on Americans, as allegedly occurred during the Trump campaign.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) secured a significant victory with the passage of the FISA legislation, overcoming months of discord to broker a compromise between opposing factions on the contentious issue of renewing the executive’s warrantless surveillance authority. However, the vote on tabling the motion to reconsider has been delayed to a future date. Until this vote occurs, the FISA bill cannot proceed to the Senate despite its approval in the House.

AUTHOR

ZACK BRAVE

Capital hill reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘About To Combust’: Republicans Have Golden Opportunity To End Spying On Americans — But It’s Tearing Them Apart

POST ON X:

JIM JORDAN: “It’s not complicated. If you want to spy on American citizens, you need to get a warrant.”

pic.twitter.com/GpE4wSDKvm

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 12, 2024

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