The two-year extension of FISA's Section 702 that the House last week passed in a bipartisan vote of 273-147 now heads to the Senate. Although passage came last Friday, after an extension previously failed last Wednesday, it could not immediately move onto the Senate and then to President Joe Biden's desk. A "pretty rare" procedural move still had to take place after Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) offered competing motions to reconsider and table the motion to reconsider.
On Monday evening, with many members not even voting in the allotted time, and many also not even voting at all, the motion to table the motion to reconsider ultimately passed by a vote of 258-128. The bill heads to the Senate without the warrant requirement that had been offered by an amendment from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), as it failed in a tied vote of 212-212.
Luna had been posting about FISA all throughout Monday from both of her X accounts, including with "#KillFISA" and "#GetaWarrant."
I sent a letter to all 435 of my colleagues asking for them to #KillFISA today. We can amend the current form so that it is constitutional.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) April 15, 2024
We will be voting at 6:30pm.
To my colleagues: please join me in protecting our civil liberties. We can fix this.
In her "Dear Colleague" letter she sent out on Monday, Luna referred to FISA's 702 as "widely misused and abusive." She also went on to warn how "as we have seen over the years, the program has been abused to spy on American citizens in direct violation of American liberty and the 4th Amendment. The FISA court found that the federal government violated its own rules over 278,000 times."
Her letter also referenced and expressed support for Biggs' amendment, noting it "would have prohibited warrantless searches of U.S. person's communication within the FISA 702 database. This amendment, if passed, would have protected Americans and upheld the 4th Amendment of the Constitution." She blasted how the amendment failed with the tie vote, indicating that's why she "objected to the final passage of H.R. 7888."
She also warned of a precedent to be set, asking "Is the 118th Congress going to set the precedent that we, as Members of Congress, will be protected from warrantless searches but that the everyday Americans that we represent will not be?"
New dear colleague from @realannapaulina out this morning on FISA 702:
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) April 15, 2024
“I urge all Members of Congress to vote NO on the motion to table the motion to reconsider. I am specifically asking the 56 Members of Congress who voted for final passage of H.R. 7888, the Reforming… pic.twitter.com/7sZg2tav1M
Biggs also indicated his support for the effort to "#KillFISA."
The extension has critics of its own in the Senate, including Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT).
The House has a final vote on FISA 702 in about 45 minutes.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 15, 2024
Please tell your representative to vote “no” on the motion to table the motion to reconsider.#GetAWarrant