House Republicans revolt against spy agency bill, signaling trouble for Speaker Johnson
A small faction of House Republicans is once again blocking key legislation and posing a critical test of Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to hold on to his gavel.
And their actions threw the House once more into chaos, as Republicans sniped among themselves and some far-right members threatened to let funding for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( #FISA )
— a post-9/11 measure that strengthened the surveillance powers of U.S. intelligence services
— expire on April 19.
Nineteen far-right members on Wednesday opposed a procedural hurdle known as a rule, preventing FISA and three other proposals from being debated and ultimately voted on this week.
Hard-liners had telegraphed that they would sink the procedural vote if the House Rules Committee did not include a change to the legislation to reshape how those services surveil malicious foreign actors,
by ensuring that they don’t spy on U.S. citizens swept up in the communications-gathering without a warrant.
And they may have been emboldened by a Wednesday morning social media post from former president Donald Trump decrying the FISA law.
