The perilous procedural path in the House to consider legislation (H.R. 7888), reforming and renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), is a tale worth telling, even if not always easy to follow.
Its twisting trail spanned four consecutive days last week, right up to mid-afternoon Friday, finally freeing members to catch their planes home. Even after the successful final passage vote, an unanticipated final procedural vote was called that had to be postponed until this week. That move prevented the bill from being sent immediately to the Senate. The existing FISA authorization expires tomorrow, April 19.
The most contentious part of FISA is section 702 which authorizes the surveillance of foreign nationals abroad, even though they may be communicating with U.S. citizens. That provision raised the hackles of privacy warriors on both the left and the right that would prove to be a major stumbling block.
The saga began last Tuesday afternoon when the House Rules Committee met to consider granting a special rule for the FISA bill and three unrelated measures (two of which were bumper-sticker resolutions denouncing the Biden administration’s immigration policies and opposing pressures on Israel). The FISA bill was brought by the leaders of the House Intelligence and........