House Rebels Push Reforms to Government Spy Powers

Ahead of a consequential vote on extending the government’s authority to conduct overseas espionage, several House conservatives are expressing their concerns.

On April 20, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which enables the government to spy on foreigners, is set to expire.

Many House Republicans and President Donald Trump have argued in the past that this power is easily abused, resulting in the inadvertent surveillance of American citizens. 

Back in 2024, facing a different deadline, Congress agreed to extend Section 702 for two years.

 Several members of the House Republican Conference demanded reforms to the authority, some of which were ultimately granted.

Now, House Republican leadership is attempting to move ahead on Wednesday with a clean extension of the authority. Trump has backed a clean extension.

The effort is being met with some resistance from House conservatives calling for amendments to the legislation.

“FISA Section 702 is a legitimate tool to monitor foreign threats, but the abuses are well-documented,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told The Daily Signal in a statement.

“Congress has an opportunity this week to reauthorize this valuable intelligence program while closing the loopholes that have allowed warrantless surveillance of millions of law-abiding Americans by voting for my amendment.”

Davidson has an amendment that would prohibit the federal government from purchasing American citizens’ data from brokers.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has argued that extending Section 702 is vital for America’s national security, and that introducing a plethora of amendments could prevent it from passing.

“It’s going to be a clean extension,” Johnson reiterated to reporters on Tuesday. “If we put amendments on it, it jeopardizes its passage and it’s far too important.”

Several House Republicans have submitted amendments for the consideration of the House Rules Committee—a leadership-controlled panel that determines the conditions for debate of bills on the floor.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., for example, has offered an amendment which would explicitly criminalize “knowingly [conducting] unlawful U.S. person queries.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is offering an extremely ambitious amendment which would attach the SAVE America Act—legislation requiring photo identification and proof of citizenship in federal elections—to the bill. 

Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., has offered an amendment which would allow members of Congress to “attend hearings and oral arguments of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,” which considers requests for warrants for surveillance.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House intel committee, has given an extension of the authority his blessing.

In March, a court granted the annual recertification of the 702 program, so it would not immediately end if Congress does not act to extend the underlying legislation. Rather, it would expire in March 2027.

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