Jim Himes & House Dems Must Not Go Along with Johnson’s Next FISA Ploy
Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, Politico reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is considering a new plan to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), this time by getting two-thirds of the House to pass a bill under suspension of the rules, which would require significant Democratic support. Last week, Johnson failed to renew FISA by introducing a five-year reauthorization in the middle of the night that pretended to include reforms but actually weakened existing privacy protections. Demand Progress is part of a bipartisan coalition urging Congress to close loopholes in the law that allow the government to bypass the courts to surveil Americans.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Adviser Hajar Hammado:
“The last time Speaker Johnson offered a FISA proposal, it ended up being a dirty trick, sprung on everyone in the dead of night. It would be unconscionable for Jim Himes, or any Democrat, to go along with the Speaker’s new ploy to pass Stephen Miller and Donald Trump’s FISA renewal. Democrats and Republicans who care about protecting privacy have absolutely no reason to trust Johnson and should not play any role in letting him try to hoodwink the House on FISA again.”
A robust set of resources on the need for privacy reforms for FISA are available here and here, and additional background, context, polling, reform demands, resources and other information is available here.