The House Rules Committee on April 14 advanced a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a power that has long drawn bipartisan criticism since its inception in 2008.
A measure to reauthorize the controversial power passed the committee in a 6–4 vote, from which three Republican panel members—Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.)—abstained.
Those same three had delayed the planned consideration of the bill for hours, threatening to join the Democratic minority in voting it down.
The measure under consideration would extend Section 702 powers for 18 months.
While the Tuesday night impasse was ultimately broken, paving the way for a late-night vote after 11:00 p.m. local time, it reveals that long-running GOP discontent with Section 702—which was used against then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 Crossfire Hurricane Russia collusion investigation—has not been soothed by Trump’s calls for a “clean” reauthorization of the power….
House Rules Committee Advances FISA Section 702 Authorization After GOP Opposition Delays Bill
