19 Republicans Strike Down Uniparty Effort To Renew Warrantless FISA Surveillance

A handful of House Republicans dealt a setback to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday by killing a motion to vote on his proposed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization.

19 Republicans joined with Democrats on Wednesday to defeat the rule by a vote of 228 to 193.

Republican “no” votes included:

Biggs (AZ)                             Crane (AZ)                   Luna (FL)           Perry (PA)

Bishop (NC)                         Gaetz (FL)                    Mace (SC)           Rosendale (MT)

Boebert (CO)                       Good (VA)                    Mills (FL)            Roy (TX)

Burchett (TN)                     Gosar (AZ)                    Norman (SC)      Steube (FL)

Cloud (TX)                          Higgins (LA)                 Ogles (TN)

In response to the motion’s defeat, Johnson called a House Republican Conference meeting Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time to “regroup” as he seeks to renew FISA surveillance by April 19.

While some reforms have been proposed, Republican dissenters do not feel the bill has gone far enough to address numerous instances of illegal surveillance undertaken by the FBI and the CIA. Intelligence officials have been caught using FISA surveillance — which is designed for surveillance on foreign citizens — to illegally spy on members of the Trump campaign in 2016, January 6 protesters and Republican politicians.

The current fight over renewal hinges on an amendment that would require intelligence officials to obtain a warrant before engaging in FISA surveillance. No such measure is included in Johnson’s bill, although Johnson appeared to have consented to an amendment vote on the matter, Breitbart News reported.

An amendment to include warrant requirements would likely pass easily, though some Republicans who voted against the rule Wednesday might insist that the warrant requirement is placed in the underlying bill before allowing it to move to the floor.

Wednesday’s result was likely impacted by former President Donald Trump’s vocal opposition to the rule. “Kill FISA,” wrote the former president in a Truth Social post. “IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”