House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has decided that the House of Representatives will delay voting on reforms to a controversial intelligence bill after debate leans in favor of changes to the bill.
The House of Representatives was due to vote on H.R. 7320, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, this week. The bill discusses potential reforms for section 702 of FISA, a contentious part of the bill potentially allowing the government access to Americans’ private communications without a warrant.
On February 14, Raj Shah, the deputy communications chief for Speaker Johnson, announced that “In order to allow Congress more time to reach consensus on how best to reform FISA and Section 702 while maintaining the integrity of our critical national security programs, the House will consider the reform and reauthorization bill at a later date.”
Various amendments have been proposed for the bill, including Rep. Andy Biggs’ (R-AZ) proposition that government agencies acquire a warrant before searching citizens’ private communications. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) supported the suggestion, saying “If the warrant requirement isn’t in the legislation, I ain’t supporting it, and I think there are a lot of people in that position.”
The House Intelligence Committee was notably not present during the debates.
The fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, and many would consider searching private messages without a warrant unreasonable, and therefore unconstitutional.
Congress’ freedom caucus held a press release on the subject.
Rep. Thomas Massie, (R-KY) has made several posts on X concerning the debate, and pointed out that the delay was announced after the pro-reform members of the house had made significant progress in the discussions. A video of the discussions is also available on his profile.
https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1757878775088328833?s=20
The delay has raised questions among the public, with Americans generally wary of government surveillance, bringing attention to the bill may spell bad news for the anti-reform members of congress. Unfortunately for Americans’ privacy, this bill will likely return to the floor only once the House Intelligence Committee has prepared a stronger defense.
