GOP Privacy Hawks Stop Renewal of Warrantless Surveillance

Plus: Writing Angry Notes Is Calming… Just Don’t Forget to Shred Them

GOP Privacy Hawks Stop Renewal of Warrantless Surveillance

Fox News reported that “GOP privacy hawks” thwarted the House bill to renew section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), with 19 Republicans voting against it. The Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act aimed to address reported abuses by adding safeguards for U.S. citizens’ data access.

More from Fox News:

[C]onservative critics of Section 702 have argued the bill does not go far enough to safeguard Americans' data. 

Among the GOP lawmakers who blocked the bill were: House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va.; Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.; Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.; Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas; and Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., among others.

The fight has put [Speaker] Johnson in a difficult spot between the House Judiciary Committee and its allies, and the U.S. intelligence community and national security hawks in Congress. The former have cast Section 702 as a tool of exploitation and privacy infringement, while the latter have maintained it's a narrowly-focused tool critical to preventing terror attacks.

Section 702 is a provision that allows the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance of a foreign national outside the U.S. if they’re suspected of ties to terrorism — even if the person on the other end of the communications is an American citizen.

The fight highlights tensions between privacy concerns and national security priorities. Amendments requiring warrants for querying Americans’ communications faced opposition from national security Republicans. However, just before the vote, former President Trump posted on Truth Social, “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS.”

FISA Section 702 is set to expire on April 19 without Congressional action.

RELATED: Jordan urges warrants to search Americans' data and protect constitutional liberties as GOP fights over FISA (Fox News)

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