House GOP leaders on Thursday unveiled the text of a new three-year extension of a key spy law, as Speaker Mike Johnson tries to overcome ultra-conservative resistance and pass it next week before the April 30 expiration deadline.
The proposed reauthorization of the so-called Section 702 law includes minimal new oversight and penalties for abuses of the spy authority but stops short of warrant requirements sought by GOP hard-liners, mostly restating current law.
Conservatives have pushed back on extending Section 702, which allows warrantless surveillance of foreigners, because of concerns about U.S. citizens being caught up in the program.
The faction that’s been opposing an extension has not yet signed off on the latest plan. GOP leaders plan to continue talks into the weekend to be able to proceed with consideration of the measure Monday at the House Rules Committee, the next step before hitting the floor.
The latest proposal includes additional oversight and audits, including reviews of the FBI’s ability to search 702-collected data for Americans, as well as penalties for knowingly violating the guidelines for searching for Americans’ information. Some lawmakers immediately panned language banning the intentional targeting of Americans under the surveillance program, noting that it is just a restatement of current law.
Johnson quickly won over one long-time GOP privacy hawk, however: Rep. Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican who has been pushing back on a straight extension of Section 702, said on X that, “Collectively, this set of reforms provides robust privacy protections for American citizens.”
“Congress should bank this win and reauthorize Section 702,” he added. “Then, we should swiftly begin gutting the unmitigated surveillance state left growing unchecked during these 702 fights.”
Even if the House can pass this version of the Section 702 extension next week, there’s still no guarantee it will be able to clear procedural hurdles in the Senate by the deadline. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a leading privacy hawk, said in a statement that “the latest House FISA bill is a rubber stamp for Trump and [FBI Director] Kash Patel to spy on Americans without a warrant.”
He continued, “Don’t fall for fake reforms. Tell anyone who will listen Americans need to stop warrantless surveillance. Instead of ending warrantless surveillance or creating more transparency about government spying, this bill only requires a few more Trump administration officials to check a box. That always leads to more abuses, not less.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said this week that he would require votes on amendments, including one requiring warrants, in order to agree to let the Senate speed up its consideration of an extension.
But Senate GOP leaders and Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee were in touch with House Republicans as they drafted the new proposal about what changes could be made to the surveillance law that would set it up for success, according to three people granted anonymity to disclose private conversations. Senate Republicans are by-and-large optimistic that they can pass any extension that makes it through the House.
The House appears poised to send the revised proposal to the Senate as a “message,” a procedural tactic that would help speed up its consideration across the Capitol with little time to spare before the program lapses.
If the latest House effort unravels, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has teed up a three-year extension of the surveillance law. House Republicans are eager to avoid the appearance of being jammed by the Senate, which would only threaten to aggravate their own hard-liners.
