Trump Furious After Passing of Controversial Spy Bill

(USNewsMag.com) – House Republicans pushed back against the House Speaker and Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, defeating a procedural vote on April 10th for the reauthorization of the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after former President Donald Trump wrote, “KILL FISA,” on Truth Social.

In the post, Trump stated FISA “WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME” in 2016 when “THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”

But on Friday, April 12th, the Republican-controlled House did pass a reauthorization of FISA, much to Trump’s chagrin.

As it is currently written, FISA allows for the collection of the communications records of foreign persons based overseas by the US intelligence community. However, a loophole in the law also allows the FBI to search the data collected for information about Americans without proper justification.

The bill, Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, would have reauthorized Section 702 of FISA for five years and would have brought reforms. The April 10th vote of 193-228 included 19 Republicans voting against the House Republican leadership and siding with Democrats, blocking the rule about debate over the bill reauthorizing FISA. The vote came as the authority for Section 702, extended as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, would have ended on April 19th.

This is the fourth time since he was elected as speaker that a rule vote has been defeated by House Republicans.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna both were among those who stated they planned to vote against FISA, with Luna writing on Twitter, “We are killing FISA.” In an interview with CNN, Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett said, “Good” when told his no vote would kill the rule.

With Trump urging House Republicans to reject reauthorizing the law, Johnson had attempted to find a path forward to unite the House Republicans, who were divided over FISA’s reauthorization. In a letter to members of the House, Johnson called FISA “essential to intercepting communications of dangerous foreign actors,” adding that FISA needs to be maintained “but strictly prohibit future abuses.”

Despite their differences, Johnson went to Mar-a-Lago on April 12th, where he appeared alongside Trump at a joint news conference about “election integrity.”