Speaker Mike Johnson said he’d schedule a vote next week on a clean extension of the nation’s surveillance laws, despite work from two top committee chairs to reform FISA ahead of its looming expiration.
FISA’s Section 702, which allows the United States to surveil foreign nationals overseas, expires April 20. The White House has been pushing for an 18-month extension without changes to the current program.
But House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) have been working on changes to the program. Neither committee has scheduled a markup.
“Why would we go that route?” Johnson said during a morning news conference, referring to a clean extension. “Because you remember, last time it was a reauthorization, [we] instituted 56 substantive reforms to FISA, by every measure and review those are working just as we planned. We’ve not had the abuses that were happening before those reforms.”
Getting a clean FISA extension through the House is going to be a challenge. First of all, there’s no guarantee the House Rules Committee will be able to report out a rule on FISA.
And even if that does happen, there’s no guarantee that the House GOP leadership will be able to cobble together enough votes to pass a rule on the floor. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) is already signaling she will oppose it and wants reforms and the SAVE America Act attached.
It’s not yet clear to the GOP leadership that they have the support to extend FISA on suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds majority for passage.
