House reauthorizes FISA government surveillance program, sends bill to Senate

Doug Cunningham
·2 min read
12
UPI
The House Friday passed the FISA national security reauthorization bill 273-147 in a bipartisan vote. Far-right Republicans had blocked the bill. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., battled his own caucus on the bill and still faces a struggle with them to pass Ukraine aid. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
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April 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. House on Friday voted to renew the FISA government surveillance program on a 273-147 bipartisan vote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson failed at first to get it passed due to divisions within his own Republican Party.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill still has to be passed in the Senate in time for it to be sent to President Joe Biden by April 19.

To win support for Friday's vote, Johnson cut the reauthorization period from five years to two.

The passage vote Friday happened two days after a group of far-right Republicans blocked Johnson from bringing the bill to a floor vote. Additionally, former President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to kill FISA.

Another stumbling block to passage was a move to insert a requirement into the bill to require warrants when foreign data collected brought up data on Americans communicating with foreigners. That effort failed on a 212-212 tie vote.

The vote was so close because far-right Republicans were joined by left-wing Democrats concerned about protecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans who may be in contact with FISA-surveilled non-Americans outside the country.

FISA lets the government spy on foreigners abroad without warrants.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said, "We are going to keep moving forward and the Senate is going to have to do their job."

FISA established the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. It was first passed in 1978, but there have been many amendments, including after the 9/11 attacks.

Section 702 of the law legalized collection of surveillance data without warrants on foreigners outside the United States. But if Americans were in contact with any of those foreign surveillance targets, data on Americans inside the U.S. can be collected, raising civil liberties and privacy concerns.

Some lawmakers and civil liberties groups have called for requiring warrants to access data of Americans under FISA.

The FBI and national security agencies maintain FISA is vital to protecting U.S. national security.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., opposed the FISA bill and has threatened to force Johnson out as speaker.

Johnson still has a battle on his hands with far-right members of the Republican House conference over an aid package to Ukraine.

The MAGA wing of the conference, including Greene, has for months blocked an aid package to Ukraine that the Biden administration says is vital to allow Ukraine to defend itself from the ongoing Russian invasion and occupation.