The U.S. House will decide whether to advance a bill reauthorizing a controversial government surveillance authority, but it may not have the votes to pass.
Expiring in five days, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows federal intelligence agencies to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance on foreign nationals of suspicion.
The House Rules Committee advanced an 18-month extension of FISA Section 702 on a party-line vote Tuesday night, with several Republicans who might have opposed the extension absent.
Many Democrats and some Republicans oppose authorizing a clean extension without also implementing significant privacy reforms.
Despite FISA’s foreign focus, Americans’ electronic data – including emails, text messages, and phone calls – is often swept up as well. Intelligence agencies will then routinely search databases without obtaining a warrant, known as “backdoor searches.”
“The problem with ‘well let’s take 18 months and then see what happens’ is a lot can happen in that time,” House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in his testimony to the Rules committee. “We need rules that are going to bind the government, regardless of who’s in power.”
Some lawmakers suggested either passing a shorter clean extension or including warrant requirements for data sourced from American soil within the proposed 18-month extension.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, however, testified in support of a clean extension, despite a year ago penning an essay explicitly calling for FISA Section 702 warrant requirements.
Jordan argued that the Trump administration has pursued transparency reforms that make FISA Section 702 a “totally different program, totally different situation today” than a year ago. He also expressed concerns that if FISA Section 702 is not reauthorized, it could be challenged in court.
“We probably don’t want that when we’re in the middle of two conflicts and we’ve had multiple terrorist attacks and threats here on the homeland,” Jordan said. “So I think that is a big concern, and I would argue it’s better to reauthorize […] versus having to fight in the court.”
Jordan and Republican leaders still need to convince enough lawmakers in their own party in order for the clean extension to pass the House floor, however.
Reps. Michael Cloud, R-Texas; Andy Harris, R-Md.; Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; and several others remained unconvinced as of Tuesday night.
“Reauthorizing FISA Section 702 without reforms to protect privacy would be a major disservice to the American people,” Davidson posted on X after exiting a FISA-related meeting with the White House. “I was encouraged by discussions tonight, but after a weak path through Rules Committee we shall see…”
The House is scheduled to vote on advancing the 18-month extension Wednesday evening.