Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese broke down House Speaker Mike Johnson’s failure to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Nineteen Republicans voted with all Democrats to shred Johnson’s efforts to pass his FISA reauthorization bill, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), in a Wednesday vote, shortly after former President Donald Trump called on his party to “kill FISA.” FISA authorizes the government to gather foreigners’ communications who have been flagged in national security matters, even when they communicate with American citizens.
“So now Republicans are at this crossroad,” Reese told former Trump administration official Steve Bannon. “And Speaker Johnson is having his feet held to the fire, and you just heard it from the congressman you had on your show. They’re frustrated with how this FISA issue has been handled.”
Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs told Reese that they only heard from the perspective of the intelligence agencies rather than civil liberties organizations who are calling for FISA to be struck down. The left-wing American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is urging Congress to strike down the FISA extension. (RELATED: ‘About To Combust’: Republican Have Golden Opportunity To End Spying On Americans—But It’s Tearing Them Apart)
Many other Republicans, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee, opposed the reauthorization.
“RISAA doesn’t go nearly far enough in protecting Americans from illegal spying by their own government. It is a sham reform, and House Republicans should not vote for any FISA reauthorization that lacks a warrant requirement. Speaker Johnson and the GOP majority have a real opportunity to end this madness, and they should take it,” Sen. Mike Lee told the Daily Caller.
Reese warned that Republicans have become divided on this issue despite Trump expressing his strong opposition against FISA.
“This should be an easy win for Republicans, and I find it really interesting and curious that they haven’t been able to come together on this,” Reese added. “I mean, former President Donald Trump put out today on Truth Social ‘kill FISA.’ He is the so-called leader right now of the Republican Party. They should be uniting behind him, and kind of have a united front on what this bill should look like, what they should do on this issue. But instead, they’re fighting on how to even handle the whole issue.”
Johnson flip-flopped on wanting to add a warrant requirement, saying the briefings he received since obtaining the speakership made him “understand the necessity of section 702 of FISA and how important it is for national security,” according to The Washington Times.
Reese explained that Johnson is in a “really tough place” given that the party is leading by a one-seat majority and due to Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filing a motion to vacate.
“If he can’t figure out a way to reign in FISA and get Republicans on the same side of this, worse case scenario maybe FISA’s extended, that’s gonna be a huge loss for Speaker Johnson, and he’s going to be facing even more criticism than before,” Reese continued.
Many people in Trump’s orbit blame FISA for allowing the national security state and corporate media to push the “Russiagate” conspiracy theory, which alleged that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to help him win the 2016 presidential election.
Some of the nineteen Republicans who voted against Johnson’s proposal included South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Bob Good of Virginia, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Chip Roy of Texas.