That’s not good.
This week the House is set to vote on legislation to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA 702”), along with a set of amendments. One of these amendments — put forward by House Intelligence Committee leads Mike Turner and Jim Himes — would expand warrantless FISA surveillance dramatically: While falsely billing itself as a minor definitional tweak, in reality the amendment would be the largest expansion of FISA since Section 702 was created in 2008. It could be used to enlist an array of sensitive facilities — such as offices for nonprofits, political campaigns, and news organizations — to serve as hubs for warrantless surveillance.
If you’re in the US, now’s a great time to contact Congress. You can either call the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or use the House directory to look up your legislators’ contact info.
“Stop the FBI from expanding warrantless surveillance of innocent Americans. OPPOSE the FISA amendment from Reps. Turner and Himes, which would be the largest expansion of FISA since Section 702 was created in 2008. And please oppose any attempt to reauthorize FISA Section 702 that doesn’t include warrant requirements, both for Section 702 data and for our sensitive, personal information sold to the government by data brokers.”
Back in December, they tried to get an even WORSE FISA extension bill through as part of the NDAA – without even a vote on it – and the pushback was strong enough that they abandoned the plan. In 2020 grassroots activism kept them from rauthorizing Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act . In 2015 grassroots activism kept them from doing a straight reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. So there really is a track record of it being effective on this issue.
The key dynamic here is that both parties are split on the issue – progressive Dems along with Libertarian and MAGA Republicans all favor reform. So even representatives in a district that one party always wins have to consider the politics: Republicans wanting to keep their MAGA cred against MAGA challengers, Democrats facing progressive challengers (or progressive Dems who need strong support from their base against centrist challengers). Plus there are a handful of centrist Dems in purple districts who might vote the right way if it can pick up some Republican votes.
Also, legislation that erodes rights is not a one-and-done affair, but an unending onslaught. We do win sometimes, when we pay attention and put in the effort, but it only takes a brief lapse in vigilance for another attack to succeed.
Yes, it’s exhausting. This is part of why we need political reform.