House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, is once again facing a test of his leadership as a fight over FISA brews.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is back in the headlines as Section 702 prepares to expire, and requires congressional reauthorization to renew, but a growing number of lawmakers are resisting the effort.
“A vast swath of lawmakers, along with the intelligence community, have argued the provision is critical to preventing another Sept. 11-style terror attack. But privacy hawks in Congress — a mix of conservatives and progressives — say it gives the federal government too much power to spy on private U.S. citizens,” Fox News reported.
“Section 702 is a provision that allows the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance of a foreign national outside the U.S. if they’re suspected of ties to terrorism — even if the person on the other end of the communication is an American citizen,” the outlet noted.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, believes it’s important to renew as it provides America with much-needed protection against potential terror attacks.
“There have been countless terrorist attempts that have been stopped because of the FISA process,” he said to reporters. “The administration’s been very clear how important this process is to keeping Americans safe at home. It’s why they’ve requested the renewal. It was created after September 11th. We surely don’t want to go back to a Sept. 10 mentality. A pre-Sept. 11 attitude, where we just hope that nothing bad happens.”
Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, counts himself among those who are concerned about the privacy implications.
“This is a privacy issue,” he explained to Fox News Digital. “It’s a very important tool, don’t get me wrong, against terrorists. But you cannot, in my mind, continue to warrantlessly surveil U.S. citizens that don’t have an immediate nexus or tie to some terrorists.”
Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, is encouraged by changes made to the section, but believes additional work could be done to create even more privacy protections for American citizens.
“There were some much-needed changes made two years ago, but there may be some additional ones that I think that we ought to make,” she said.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, believes the SAVE America Act needs to be passed before they will consider voting on the extension.
I’ve made my positions to House Leadership clear:
I’m a NO on all senate bills until they pass the SAVE America Act.
I’m a NO on FISA as it stands.
I’m a NO on the rule for FISA to boot.
Swamp isn’t happy but that’s where I’m at. Pass the SAVE America Act and I MIGHT feel…
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) March 17, 2026
“I’ve made my position to House Leadership clear: I’m a NO on all Senate bills until they pass the SAVE America Act. I’m a NO on FISA as it stands. I’m a NO on the rule for FISA to boot. Swamp isn’t happy, but that’s where I’m at. Pass the SAVE America Act and I MIGHT feel differently,” she posted last week.
More from Fox News:
House GOP leadership has said they will put an 18-month FISA extension on the floor without any changes. While the underlying bill is likely to get support from a majority of the House chamber, Johnson could run into trouble during a procedural hurdle known as a rule vote.
A “rule vote” is effectively a test vote which, if successful, allows lawmakers to debate and then weigh a given measure. But rule votes traditionally fall along partisan lines, meaning the speaker will only be able to lose one GOP vote to still advance the Section 702 reauthorization without support from Democrats.
With so many Republicans opposing the reauthorization as it stands, Johnson will have to do some fancy footwork to get the votes needed to pass.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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