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GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – APRIL 2: Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on April 2, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo by Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
CNN
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A major oversight reauthorization bill is at risk of failure in the House of Representatives on Wednesday over opposition from former President Donald Trump, with conservatives looking to deal another blow to Speaker Mike Johnson.
President Trump is urging House Republicans to kill the reauthorization bill ahead of a key procedural vote on Wednesday, creating a headache for Republican leaders who are struggling to drum up support for the bill. It becomes. There now appears to be enough conservative opposition to halt the voting process on the rules governing debate on the bill. The main vote is expected to take place Wednesday afternoon.
“Kill FISA,” President Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
If the rules are defeated, it would be the fourth time during Johnson's tenure that the House of Representatives has rejected them on a rules vote, and it would be a major embarrassment for Republican leaders. House Republicans currently have a two-vote lead, but an absence on the Democratic side could change the calculation of how much defection House Republican leadership can tolerate.
House Republicans are deeply divided over how to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, putting pressure on Johnson to find a way forward amid conflicting factions within the chamber. The Louisiana Republican's every move is under increased scrutiny as the threat of a vote to remove him looms, and the speaker is once again at odds with the right over surveillance laws.
Prime Minister Johnson previously announced that the House of Commons would consider the FISA reauthorization bill this week. The bill, titled the “Intelligence Reform and American Security Act,” would reauthorize Section 702 of FISA for five years and would impose a series of reforms.
But in a sign of the difficulties ahead for Republican leadership, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz has already announced his intention to vote against the procedural vote scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. .
Additionally, Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna posted on X, “We are killing FISA,” in response to President Trump's Truth Social post. And Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett told CNN he plans to vote against the rule. When told it would cost him his life, he said, “Okay.”
Johnson told members during a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning that he spoke to Trump on Tuesday night. But members said Johnson told them they were not discussing FISA.
Section 702 powers: It was extended until April 19 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Current law allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications records of foreigners based overseas, but the FBI has collected what critics call “backdoor” searches. It is also permitted to search the data for information on Americans.
Searching for information on Americans is governed by a set of internal rules and procedures meant to protect Americans' privacy and civil liberties, but critics say loopholes allow the data collected by the FBI to be Critics say it will allow searches for information on Americans. Foreign adversaries — without proper justification.
The complicated politics surrounding this law have long united strange bedfellows. Some conservative Republicans have joined forces with progressive Democrats to push for reform of the agency, while security-minded Democrats and Republicans oppose large new regulations.
One big question is whether the FBI needs to obtain a warrant before querying the database for information about U.S. citizens.
In a sign of how difficult the issue will be for House Republicans to navigate, leaders withdrew two oversight bills from the floor in December amid divisions within the party. A spokesperson for the speaker said in February that the House would consider FISA reform “at a later date,” given the time it would take to reach an agreement on a path forward.
The agency has also become a high-profile political target for conservative Republicans after it was revealed that another branch of FISA was improperly used to monitor Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2016. It becomes.
In a call to “bust FISA,” President Trump told Truth Social, “FISA was used illegally against me and many others. They spied on my campaign!!!”
“FISA and Section 702 were essential to intercepting the communications of dangerous foreign actors overseas, understanding the threats to our country, countering our enemies, and saving countless American lives,” Johnson said. said in a letter to colleagues on Friday. “Our responsibility now is simple: to maintain the tools and strictly prohibit future abuse.”
He went on to say that the bill to be considered in the House would “establish new procedures to rein in the FBI, increase accountability in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and impose penalties for wrongdoing.” “It includes reforms that impose new charges and introduce unprecedented crimes.” With increased transparency throughout the FISA process, you no longer have to wait years to discover potential fraud. ”
CNN's Lauren Fox contributed to this report.