You might have heard that the controversial FISA law is up for expiration. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act gives the government the power to monitor communications between Americans and people living outside the country without a warrant.
Many believe this law violates the 4th Amendment. Democrats within the FBI and DOJ used this law to spy on Trump’s 2016 campaign, including his staffer, Carter Page.
Congress has been fighting to reinstate the law. Speaker Johnson seemingly defied Trump’s call to kill it—by promising reforms. A vow was held in the House this week to decide to reauthorize FISA. And after Trump called for the bill to die, this is what the vast majority of Democrats did in response.
The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to block the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was set to expire on April 19. The decision came after intense debate and pressure from both sides of the political spectrum.
Former President Donald Trump publicly voiced opposition to the bill, urging lawmakers to “kill” it. This sentiment seemed to resonate with enough House Republicans, as 19 of them joined 209 Democrats to strike down the legislation that would have renewed Section 702 of FISA.
“KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social before the vote. [Source: The Post Millennial]
Speaker Johnson tried to save FISA by including “50 reforms” that would supposedly stop the FBI from misusing intelligence resources or using the law to persecute political enemies. It seems his insistence on saving the program was enough to motivate Democrats to vote against it.
Because, despite it being Trump’s desire to kill the program, Democrats complied by voting to let it die. The program will end on April 19th. Two hundred and nine Democrats and only nineteen Republicans voted against reauthorizing the bill, even with Johnson’s measures.
Were Democrats actually trying to help Trump? That doesn’t seem likely. Instead, they were more interested in blocking Johnson’s reforms. But by spoiling Johnson’s plans, they ended up killing FISA’s chances at survival. Without House approval to extend the program, it doesn’t matter what the Senate passes.
Trump blamed the FISA program for the Democrats’ “spying” on his campaign—which led to the “Russia hoax” and the Steele dossier. But it is unlikely that U.S. intelligence agencies will simply give up the power they’ve enjoyed for years. The White House will no doubt try to find a way to give them the same power but without approval from Congress.
Which could only lead to an intense legal battle.
Author: Kit Fargo
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