Trump urges House Republicans to reject FISA bill, adding to President Johnson’s headaches

Former president Donald Trump is urging House Republicans to reject a surveillance reauthorization bill ahead of a key procedural vote Wednesday, adding to headaches for GOP leaders who have struggled to gain support for the legislation as it makes facing resistance from conservative hardliners.

“KILL FISA, SHE WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS,” Trump wrote on social media. “THEY SPYED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!! »

Trump’s entry into the debate poses a major problem for House Speaker Mike Johnson and could jeopardize the entire bill, as some hard-liners were already either critical of of the measure, or hesitant about it.

House Republicans are fiercely divided over how to handle FISA reauthorization, putting pressure on Johnson to find a path forward among competing factions within his conference. With the looming threat of a vote on his ouster, the Louisiana Republican’s every action is subject to even more intense scrutiny, and the speaker has once again found himself in conflict with his right flank over the law on monitoring.

Johnson previously announced that the House would consider a FISA reauthorization bill this week. The bill, titled the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, would reauthorize FISA Section 702 for five years and aims to impose a series of reforms.

However, in a sign of trouble ahead for GOP leaders, at least one Republican, Rep. Matt Gaetz, has already said he will vote against a procedural vote expected Wednesday afternoon, meaning President Johnson cannot afford to lose just one more.

Section 702 authority was extended through April 19 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a major and controversial law that authorizes warrantless surveillance of foreigners but also scans the communications of American citizens.

The law, as it stands, authorizes the U.S. intelligence community to collect communications records of foreign persons based abroad, but it also authorizes the FBI to search the data it collects for information about Americans in what critics called “backdoor” research.

The complex politics surrounding the law have long united strange bedfellows: Some conservative Republicans have joined forces with progressive Democrats to push for reforms to the authority, while Democrats and Republicans, focused on security, opposed major new restrictions.

A major sticking point is whether the FBI should be required to obtain a warrant before querying the database for information on U.S. citizens.

In a sign of how difficult this issue is for House Republicans, leaders withdrew two surveillance bills in December amid internal GOP divisions. In February, a spokesperson for the president said the House would consider FISA reform “at a later date” to allow more time to build consensus on a path forward.

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