FISA reauthorization bill scheduled for vote Wednesday in GOP-led House

Conservative lawmakers and a group of Democrats have called for ending warrantless surveillance, which the bill up for a vote on Wednesday would not do in its current form

By Nicholas Ballasy

Published: April 8, 2024 12:46pm

A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization bill is scheduled for a House floor vote on Wednesday.

The bill, titled the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, would extend Section 702 of FISA, which "authorizes the targeted collection of foreign intelligence information from non-U.S. persons located abroad," according to the FBI.

The FBI has described it as an "indispensable tool" in the agency's efforts to "protect against national security threats."

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the legislation is a reform bill in name only, since it doesn't require law enforcement to obtain a warrant prior to conducting a "U.S. person query" of information on a specific individual.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, predicts the bill will pass.

“I think it will," he said Sunday on CNN. "I think that those who mischaracterize this are small compared to those who understand that this goes to the heart of our ability to get intelligence. It allows us to be able to keep Americans safe. This is not a warrantless surveillance of Americans.”