Congress ADVANCES renewal of surveillance tool used to catch terrorists that critics say has been used to spy on Americans, despite Trump demand Republicans 'kill it'

• The House voted to advance reauthorization of the controversial spy tool on Friday on Speaker Mike Johnson ‘s fourth try
• Johnson made an agreement with former President Donald Trump and his allies to renew it only for two years instead of five
• House now hashes out whether to include an amendment requiring a warrant before picking up conversations U.S. residents with suspected terrorists

The House voted to advance reauthorization of a controversial spy tool on Friday on Speaker Mike Johnson’s fourth try.

After a rule vote to advance renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Information Surveillance Act (FISA) failed earlier this week, Johnson made an agreement with former President Donald Trump and his allies to renew it only for two years instead of five.

That way if Trump wins the election, Congress can more thoroughly reform FISA under his presidency.

The rule to begin debate on the FISA bill, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, passed 218 to 208. The House will now begin debate and vote on six amendments.

The House voted to advance reauthorization of a controversial spy tool on Friday on Speaker Mike Johnson ‘s fourth try

Under a two-year reauthorization, if Trump wins the election, Congress can more thoroughly reform FISA under his presidency

The national security surveillance bill includes new guardrails aimed at oversight and transparency, after a report found that intelligence agents had improperly queried Americans 278,000 times under the law.

The White House released a statement in support of the FISA bill, and in opposition of the amendment from Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., to require a warrant before picking up conversations of those on U.S. soil who communicate with suspected terrorists.

Trump had deflated FISA’s chances of passing earlier this week when he posted on Truth Social ahead of the Wednesday vote: ‘KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!! DJT.’

Another part of the law that is not up for reauthorization – Title 1 – was used to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016 when he was suspected of communications with the Russians. Trump reauthorized FISA in 2018.

Section 702 specifically allows the U.S. government to surveil foreign nationals with suspected terror ties who are not on U.S. soil, even if the party on the other side of such communications is a U.S. national in America.

It is set to expire on April 19, after which ‘America will go blind,’ Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner warned reporters.

Without Section 702, intelligence agents would not be able to get the full picture of conversations of suspected terrorists abroad who are communicating with people on American soil.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, tore into the right-wing House Freedom Caucus and its allies who want the FBI to have to get a warrant to pick up those conversations, which critics say would bog down the process of fighting terrorism.

‘Let’s be clear. Your position is aligned (and cosponsored) with the progressive caucus – Jerry Nadler, AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal – the list goes on and on. It is the far left socialists that want this same policy,’ he said.

‘What the progressives want to do is much more than just fix the program, they want to kill it entirely. I’m not surprised when Rashida Tlaib wants to make it easier for terrorists to kill Americans, but I am VERY surprised that many Republicans agree with her.’

Crenshaw likened it to a wire tap of criminal investigation. Police don’t have to get a warrant to probe conversations of suspects and the people they talk to. He noted that intelligence agents need to track would-be terrorists’ conversations with those in the U.S. at early stages, potentially before a judge would approve a warrant for ‘probable cause.’

‘This requirement – while perhaps well intentioned – would actually destroy our ability to detect domestic terror attacks (or drug trafficking, or espionage), because it prevents our investigators from moving past step 1 of the investigation process, which is simply connecting the dots with data we already legally have.’

Biggs, who sponsored the warrant requirement, shot back: ‘You’ve aligned yourself with the DC Cartel that insists on spying on Americans and violating the Bill of Rights.’

Crenshaw claimed the FBI ‘HATES’ the new reforms in the bill. ‘It severely degrades their access to the FISA database. It imposes criminal penalties for abusing it. It makes clear you can’t search anyone for any reason, but only for investigations related to foreign intelligence, WMD, or terrorism.’

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