The US House on Thursday refused to renew an extension through July 2 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) provisions. This came amid a row over President Donald Trump’s decision to make Bill Pulte the Director of National Intelligence, succeeding Tulsi Gabbard.
As DNI, Pulte would be in charge of the spy agencies. He is slated to take up the post on June 19. The extension to FISA that the Trump administration sought failed on a 198 to 218 vote. Now, the legal provisions granting broad authority to monitor phone, email and other communications to or from foreign persons are set to lapse on Friday now that there’s no Congressional approval.
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The vote was regarding Section 702 of FISA and the US House notes the aim was to ‘amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and for other purposes.’
Among those who voted ‘no’ or against the FISA extension are 19 Republicans. Here’s the full list.
Full list of Republicans who voted against FISA
The Republicans who voted against the FISA extension are as follows –
- Lauren Boebert of Colorado
- Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma
- Tim Burchett of Tennessee
- Eric Burlison of Missouri
- Kat Cammack of Florida
- Michael Cloud of Texas
- Andrew S. Clyde of Georgia
- Elijah Crane of Arizona
- Warren Davidson of Ohio
- Troy Downing of Montana
- Russ Fulcher of Idaho
- Paul A. Gosar, also of Arizona
- Harriet M. Hageman of Wyoming
- Mike Kennedy of Utah
- Thomas Massie of Kentucky
- John W. Rose, also of Tennessee
- Chip Roy from Texas
- Michael A. Rulli also from Ohio
- Keith Self, also of Texas
While 19 Republicans voted ‘nay’ 190 voted yes. Among Democrats, seven voted to extend FISA, while 199 voted against it.
Prior to the vote, House Democrats had said in a statement “The apparent motivation for his elevation is the demonstrated willingness of Bill Pulte to search government databases for alleged dirt on President Trump’s chosen political enemies.” Pulte has been a long-time Trump loyalist and was formerly director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. During this time, he’s known to have launched investigations into perceived political adversaries of Trump.
Now, despite this lapse, intelligence agencies can continue the program to monitor communications until March 2027. This is because the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has approved yearlong certifications of warrantless surveillance tactics and procedures. However, without the renewed statute, communications providers may stop cooperating with the government.
This can lead to gaps in data as the Trump administration would have to go to court to compel compliance.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
