{"id":15472,"date":"2026-03-26T08:58:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T00:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15472"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T00:58:07","slug":"trumps-backing-of-spy-powers-puts-gops-fisa-702-critics-in-tough-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15472","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s backing of spy powers puts GOP\u2019s FISA 702 critics in tough spot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Trump\u2019s reversal in pushing lawmakers to renew the nation\u2019s warrantless spy powers is putting pressure on the House GOP and some of the tool\u2019s most fervent critics to back its reauthorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad. But the tool has long been challenged by the GOP\u2019s right wing as well as privacy-minded liberals who say the intelligence community should get a warrant before reviewing information on Americans that get swept up if they communicate with those surveilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But hardline warrant backers have softened their tone in recent days, even as wrangling over the bill pushed GOP leadership to delay its plans to bring FISA 702 to the floor next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While several hardliners in the past swiftly threatened \u2013 and then followed through \u2013 on a pledge to vote against FISA 702 if a warrant requirement wasn\u2019t added, this year, many are not making such firm commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One leader of the movement, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), reversed course this week, saying he would support Trump\u2019s request for a clean reauthorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president indicated that he wanted a temporary reauthorization, and in light of the facts and the changes and reforms we made\u2026we got no problem extending for 18 months, short-term extension,\u201d he said, citing some 50 reforms made to Section 702 when he last voted against reauthorizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has also shifted course, backing the extension even though in 2024 he called on Republicans to \u201cKILL FISA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Section 702 reauthorization will not be an easy lift. Some Republicans, like Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) have threatened to vote against the bill, particularly if the House doesn\u2019t first approve Trump\u2019s new voter ID bill. Boebert added that while she is \u201ca NO on FISA as it stands,\u201d she \u201cMIGHT feel differently\u201d if the SAVE America Act passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several other lawmakers who were vocal in their plans to vote against reauthorization without a warrant last time said they have not yet decided how they will vote, even as they expressed reservations about renewing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe keep finding out over and over and over again that the FBI misused and abused its authority against American citizens. So I\u2019m really struggling with that \u2013 they used [another authority under] FISA to actually spy on President Trump, and so I\u2019m kind of bummed by that,\u201d said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who has repeatedly sponsored legislation to require a warrant before looking at any information collected on U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he declined to say how he would vote this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna whip to you, because I don\u2019t whip to those guys either,\u201d he told The Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said he still plans to vote against Section 702 without an added warrant requirement but said Trump\u2019s push for a straight reauthorization would undoubtedly shift some colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting to see who changes their mind because we have a different president,\u201d Massie told The Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s Kash Patel who\u2019s spying on Americans without a warrant. And so it\u2019s fashionable, I guess,\u201d he said, referring to the FBI director, who was a top FISA critic prior to entering the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One GOP staffer said it\u2019s clear Trump is having an influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s gonna cross Trump publicly and loudly. Biggs would be the most likely to, but he\u2019s running for governor,\u201d the staffer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen is Andy Biggs ever been known to be quiet? When is he ever like \u2018Eh I\u2019m not going to say what I feel?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), another leading voice pushing for a warrant requirement who did not support Section 702 renewal in 2024, also declined to say how he\u2019ll vote this time though he did stress the need for changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all talking about what we\u2019re going to do. But I\u2019m not going to negotiate this through the media, but we need to see further reforms,\u201d he told reporters Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously influential and important, and we\u2019re all united wanting to go after our enemies\u2026But at the end of the day, you know, I hear this thing about, well, if we don\u2019t do this, there\u2019s going to be, you know, bloodshed. Well, there was bloodshed to protect the Fourth Amendment,\u201d Roy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have different occupants of the White House, different occupants in the intelligence community, over time. But the Fourth Amendment stays consistent, and we need to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roy, too, is in a competitive race for Texas attorney general, advancing to a primary run-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Darrel Issa (R-Calif.), another member who voted against reauthorizing Section 702 after the warrant amendment failed, expressed reservations and said he wanted to further analyze whether the limitations included in the 2024 bill were making a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That included shrinking who could query the 702 database and requiring sign-off from a superior before reviewing any information collected on Americans. Congress also now has a greater oversight role in reviewing when information on Americans is accessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reforms, coupled with a tech fix that ended the practice of immediately opting officers into searching the database, have seen searches of Americans drop 2.9 million in 2022 to just over 9,000 in the year after the last renewal of Section 702.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president must have more faith in his FBI and Department of Justice, and I understand that, but I don\u2019t have faith in the future FBI and Department of Justice based on the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the breakdown will be, but certainly a Republican president saying, \u2018Please give me a clean reauthorization,\u2019 has more effect on Republicans than Democrats. But at the end of the day, I saw what [Presidents] Obama and Biden did, which was criminal, and they got away with it. And so the incredible amount of violations we\u2019ve seen in the past has been reduced, but I still want to see how much what we already did has as an effect,\u201d Issa said, describing himself as \u201copen minded\u201d while he\u2019s evaluating the impact of the reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump is known to pressure lawmakers and in the past has threatened to support primary opponents of the members of Congress who don\u2019t support his legislative priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massie, who has seen Trump do so in his primary, said he expects the president to give some members a \u201chall pass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll get as many votes as they need, and they\u2019ll leave some room for people to be principled,\u201d he said, pointing to people more at risk in their districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who \u201ccould endanger their reelection by being on the wrong side of this \u2013 those people get a hall pass,\u201d Massie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One GOP lawmaker who supports reauthorizing FISA 702 said they haven\u2019t yet seen the push from the White House they\u2019d like, questioning whether colleagues feel presidential pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a concerted effort to push, there\u2019s no lobbying effort, there\u2019s no organization. There\u2019s nobody to go to to ask FISA questions,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still think there\u2019s a long ways to go to getting this done. Just because Jim Jordan is on board doesn\u2019t mean that these other people are going to be on board,\u201d they said, adding that there are still 30 to 50 lawmakers who might be tough to get to support Section 702.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump administration officials this week held a closed-door briefing for lawmakers and publicly pushed for Section 702\u2019s reauthorization during the annual Worldwide Threats hearings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe President is in favor of an 18-month, clean reauthorization of FISA 702,\u201d CIA Director John Ratcliffe told lawmakers. \u201cI wish the reauthorization was longer than 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patel chimed in later that he\u2019d love to see an extension of as long as five or 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who backed Section 702\u2019s renewal in 2024 even when Trump did not, the president has earned some praise for now calling for its renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just applaud the president\u2019s boldness and his showing leadership on this issue. It\u2019s super important, and he knows it. My only complaint is that we\u2019ve somehow settled on 18 months,\u201d said Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who last year led the charge to expand Section 702 so that it could be used to monitor drug cartels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need it to be a longer reauthorization.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump\u2019s reversal in pushing lawmakers to renew the nation\u2019s warrantless spy powers is putting pressure on the House GOP and some of the tool\u2019s most fervent critics to back its reauthorization. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad. But the tool has long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1724,61],"class_list":["post-15472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-trump","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s backing of spy powers puts GOP\u2019s FISA 702 critics in tough spot - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15472\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s backing of spy powers puts GOP\u2019s FISA 702 critics in tough spot - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Trump\u2019s reversal in pushing lawmakers to renew the nation\u2019s warrantless spy powers is putting pressure on the House GOP and some of the tool\u2019s most fervent critics to back its reauthorization. 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