House Republican leaders are trying to corral enough votes to pass a clean 18-month reauthorization of a key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before it expires at midnight on April 19.
Convincing rank-and-file Republicans to support the reauthorization will be difficult, as many have demanded changes to FISA’s Section 702.
Section 702, which must be reauthorized every two years, allows U.S. spy agencies to intercept communications of foreigners abroad. Americans can be ensnared in surveillance when communicating with foreigners. The FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies have also searched the collected data for information about Americans.
House Speaker Mike Johnson hoped to have a vote by March 27, when lawmakers take a two-week recess for Easter and Passover, but the vote could have to wait until after Congress returns on April 13.
The White House wants a “clean” reauthorization that doesn’t get complicated by attempting to change the law, as do lawmakers from both parties on Congress’ intelligence committees.
President Trump also backs renewing Section 702 as is, despite his first campaign falling victim to FISA abuse. The FBI used bogus information to obtain FISA warrants to spy on Trump 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page.
Republican leaders backing the clean reauthorization said the necessary updates were made after 2016.
“There’s been a huge improvement based on the reforms we’ve done over the last decade. And this is a temporary extension at a time when we … have this military operation going on,” said House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican.
In 2024, Mr. Jordan voted against re-upping Section 702 after the House did not add a requirement that intelligence officers obtain a warrant before reviewing any information inadvertently collected on Americans.
Mr. Jordan said the environment at the FBI has changed for the better because of the changes that Republicans pushed.
“Four years ago, there were 278,000 times that the FBI didn’t follow their own rules. Last year was 127,” he told The Washington Times. “They used to do 3 million searches in 2021. Last year, total searches were 9,000. So that’s the kind of reforms and the accountability, the auditing, the penalties that were kicked in.”
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said the clean extension was needed to gather the “intelligence that we use to protect and keep Americans safe.”
FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe hammered that point at a recent briefing for House lawmakers, pressing them not to let Section 702 expire.
Still, a bipartisan group in the House and Senate is demanding an overhaul of FISA. They find themselves in a similar position to two years ago, when they failed to rally enough support for their cause.
Other hangups are possible.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, wants to attach the GOP’s voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, to the FISA reauthorization to push it through the Senate. However, the move would threaten to derail the FISA bill.
Mr. Johson likely needs Democratic votes to bring the bill to the House floor and pass it, but Democratic support is far from guaranteed.
Otherwise, the GOP cannot lose more than one member, and several House Freedom Caucus members said they will not support a clean reauthorization.
Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said his group may want “minor reforms” in exchange for their support.
Mr. Johnson could try to get enough Democratic support to advance and pass the legislation. But it is not guaranteed that Democrats can produce these votes.
