On June 11, the U.S. House of Representatives voted down the proposed 45-day extension of the Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which consecutive governments have used for unconstitutional warrantless surveillance of its own citizens. The vote was 218 against, only 198 for. Nineteen Republicans bucked President Donald Trump’s orders that the extension go through, 14 with the courage to vote no, and five others as “no-shows.”
The Senate then failed to pass its version of the bill. Thus, as of Friday night, June 12, the act has expired.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullins, like other FISA champions, screeched on “Fox News Sunday” today that the government’s loss of its warrantless surveillance leaves the country unprotected at a time when the threat level is the “highest it’s ever been,” pointing to the World Cup and the nation’s 250 anniversary celebrations. Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat, on the same program, asserted that all is not lost because the law remains “operative” until March, 2027.
Reed (like others) credited the strong bipartisan opposition to FISA to Trump choosing first one, and then another candidate who have no intelligence background whatsoever to replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, their main qualification apparently being they both are big Trump men.
Rep. Thomas Massie posted a list of the 19 Republicans, including himself, who voted against the extension, he asserted, “in order to preserve Constitutionally guaranteed rights.”
