Staff Reports
House Speaker Mike Johnson yanked two competing bills aiming to revamp the government’s top snooping authority under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As a die-hard conservative, Mr. Johnson, hailing from Louisiana, made the bold move to scrap both bills from the House Judiciary Committee and the House intelligence committee after a raucous GOP conference meeting.
Speaker Johnson withdraws both House FISA bills https://t.co/QlRQ6qAzdg #FISA #NDAA
— Amy JayBee (@BossClaw) December 12, 2023
Originally, the plan was to bring both bills to the floor for a vote, with the one that nabbed the most support winning the day – a legislative showdown known as a “queen of the hill” vote. But things took a serious turn for the worse when tension boiled over during the GOP meeting. Reports surfaced that Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, a Judiciary Committee member, allegedly accused Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner of Ohio of not playing it straight about the Judiciary bill. Yikes!
Mr. Turner had already ruffled feathers by blasting the Judiciary’s FISA legislation, arguing it goes above and beyond in expanding the rights of foreign travelers in the U.S. and even shields telecom companies collaborating with our intelligence community. The nerve! He also griped that the Judiciary bill offers immunity from certain “horrific crimes” discovered through Section 702 intelligence powers. Outrageous, right?
The whole mess flared tempers, and two Republican members of the Rules Committee were raring to vote against the “queen of the hill” setup. Even former Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California pushed Mr. Johnson to pick a single bill and stick with it. Wise counsel indeed! Mr. McCarthy nudged him to have both committees hash out their differences to craft one bill – just like how the GOP’s H.R. 2 Secure Border Act came together. What a splendid idea!
Now, with the bills punted to next year, the panels have time to iron out the kinks and come up with a unified plan. The Judiciary Committee’s bill imposes tighter rules for government officials to sift through the FISA database when snooping on foreigners overseas, while also demanding that officials obtain warrants to search the database. In contrast, the intelligence panel bill would restrict Section 702 to foreign intelligence only, nixing the FBI from conducting searches for “evidence of a crime only.”
Looking ahead, the House is all set for a hair-raising vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a snazzy little extension of FISA until April 19. Section 702 of FISA gives U.S. spy agencies the green light to tap into communications of overseas peeps, though it’s like a game of catch when Americans get tangled up in the surveillance while chatting with foreigners.
Those blasting Section 702 as a threat to constitutional rights argue that the FBI and U.S. intelligence officials are poking through the data without a warrant, on the prowl for dirt on Americans. On the flip side, national security champs argue that it’s a crucial tool in fending off potential global terrorist threats. Ah, the cosmic dance of politics!
