The House blocks vote on expanding warrantless wiretapping authority

The House has blocked a vote on the reauthorization of a controversial surveillance program that is set to expire in nine days. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which will sunset on April 19th, lets US intelligence agencies spy on foreign communications without a warrant — sometimes ensnaring US citizens as well.

Previous negotiations over the FISA reauthorization grew so heated that in February, House Speaker Mike Johnson withdrew the bill from consideration. At issue were provisions intended to protect Americans’ privacy: one prohibiting data brokers from selling consumer data to law enforcement and another requiring a warrant to search Americans’ data. These amendments are not in the latest version of the bill, which was released on April 5th. The House Rules Committee nonetheless advanced the bill on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the House voted against debating the FISA reauthorization bill, blocking the path for a floor vote. After a voice vote and a roll call where the bill moved forward, a handful of Republicans appear to have switched sides in a third and final recorded vote. The vote was over a procedural bill out of the House Rules Committee that would have greenlit debate on the FISA bill, as well as other unrelated legislation. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) previously told Politico that the bill would come to a vote on Thursday.

Per CQ Roll Call, Johnson praised the latest version of a bill in a letter to colleagues, saying it contains dozens of “specific reforms,” including new procedures to curtail the FBI and “institute unprecedented transparency across the FISA process.”

“If our bill fails, we will be faced with an impossible choice and can expect the Senate to jam us with a clean extension that includes no reforms at all,” Johnson wrote. “That is clearly an unacceptable option.”

Other lawmakers have pushed back at the idea that Section 702 is a warrantless surveillance program. The authority lets intelligence agencies spy on foreign communications without a warrant, meaning any Americans who correspond with intelligence targets can indeed end up having their communications surveilled as well.

“If you’re an American and you’re corresponding with ISIS, yes, if we’re spying on ISIS, your communications are going to be captured,” Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), the chair of the intelligence committee, said in an interview with CNN. “You would want us to do that. All Americans would want us to try to make certain that we keep ourselves safe.”

Johnson was apparently unsuccessful in getting other members of his party to fall in line. Some members of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus have joined libertarians and progressive Democrats in advocating for FISA reform. Former President Donald Trump has also waded in to the debate. “KILL FISA. IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

When the reauthorization was up for a vote in February, some House Republicans described the privacy amendments as nonnegotiable. “We have to have these amendments,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told Politico in February. “Like, there’s no way we’re not going to have them.”

Section 702 was last renewed in 2018.

Correction April 10th, 2:08PM ET: Due to an editing error, this story published before the final vote on the bill to greenlight debate on the bill for Section 702 renewal was called. The previous version of the article stated that “The House greenlit debate for the bill on Wednesday.”

Update April 10th, 2:30PM ET: The story and its headline have been updated to reflect the failed vote on allowing floor debate for the FISA reauthorization bill.