Speaker Johnson angering GOP with plan to tuck FISA extension into defense bill

Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) outlook for next week got grimmer Friday when the members of the House Freedom Caucus announced their opposition to attaching a short-term extension of a powerful government surveillance tool on the annual defense bill, spelling trouble for passage.

After changing his stance and reversing course multiple times in the past week on how he plans to ensure section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not expire at the end of the year, Johnson settled on including a clean short-term extension of the tool until April 19, 2024, in the National Defense Authorization Act, something he said he would not do just days prior.

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That is something some hard-line conservatives and centrist Republicans staunchly oppose.

“Any reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) must be considered only with significant reforms and as a standalone measure,” Freedom Caucus members said in a statement. “Under no circumstances should an extension be attached to ‘must pass’ legislation such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“The Members of the House Freedom Caucus are prepared to use all available leverage to change the status quo,” the statement continued. “We will not simply vote ‘no’ on bad legislation and go home for Christmas.”

While disagreements had been expressed, the statement puts a firm policy stance against attaching a short-term extension of the spy tool to the NDAA. With that stance, there is public opposition to the annual defense bill from both sides of the aisle and across the ideological spectrum of both parties.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a left-leaning group, opposes extending FISA in the NDAA, saying in a statement that “there is zero need for a short-term authorization,” and that it will include the vote in its annual score for lawmakers.

Some centrist Republicans also oppose the NDAA for numerous reasons, a short-term extension being one of them.

“The FISA extension is not great,” Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) said. “I don’t think it should be in the NDAA.”

Garcia’s main opposition, though, which is why he said he will not be voting for the bill, is because it does not “take adequate care of our troops,” citing that the conference report took out the “historic pay raise” for junior enlisted members that was included in the House’s version of the bill.

According to a senior GOP aide, the likely plan is for House leadership to bring the NDAA up for a vote under suspension of the rule, which would require a two-thirds majority vote to pass. With such staunch opposition, there is no guarantee that would get the necessary votes, but the aide said party leaders are confident that they will.

That is sure to anger some hard-line conservatives such as Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who opposes the NDAA and slammed Johnson and House Republican leadership for bringing the most recent continuing resolution up under suspension of the rules to avoid a possible rule failing on the floor.

Most members believe they should vote on a full reauthorization of FISA 702 with reforms to the program, but they disagree on what those reforms should be. The Judiciary and Intel Committees released opposing versions of bills on how to reform the tool.

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In a letter to colleagues sent on Thursday, Johnson said the plan is to bring both bills to the floor under “a special rule that provides members a fair opportunity to vote in favor of their preferred measure.” That is called the “queen of the hill” rule, under which the bill with the most votes will be the one the House sends over to the Senate.

But with the NDAA in trouble, that also sets up the possibility of FISA 702 expiring, as there is no plan to get a full reauthorization bill with reforms across the finish line by the end of next week when Congress leaves for the remainder of the year.