86 Republicans Vote To Allow Warrantless Spying Of Americans With FISA

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Watch Tucker Carlson on Mike Johnson’s Fight to Protect the Government Spy Program Used on Trump

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:

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

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.

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.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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