Senate Extends FISA Reauthorization Vote

The Senate on Monday agreed to a 77-day extension to vote on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization. The USA Freedom Reauthorization Act, which would end NSA’s call detail records program (see 2003110077), passed the House 278-136 Wednesday. Key Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorities, including the CDR program, expired Sunday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., initially filed for cloture,” citing House passage with “a wide bipartisan majority” and Attorney General William Barr’s endorsement. He withdrew his motion for cloture before announcing the extension Monday. Invoking cloture establishes a 30-hour window before proceeding to a final vote on passage. President Donald Trump threatened to veto the FISA bill, citing an “illegal attempted ‘coup,’” referring to Democrats’ Russia probe.

Trump’s rights as an American citizen were abused, and there have been other violations, Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said from the Senate floor Monday. McConnell said the Senate will consider amendments from himself, as well as Sens. Lee, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Steve Daines, R-Mont. Paul proposed an amendment that would bar the government from surveilling American citizens unless it obtains a warrant from a court established under Article 3 of the Constitution.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., told us he wants Trump to sign the House-passed legislation. Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., would have liked more FISA changes, but if the choice is the House bill or nothing, the correct choice is the former, he told reporters. There were concerns about the House compromise, but “that’s the notion of a compromise,” Warner said: The jeopardy associated with “going naked” for a while isn’t “a rational choice.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, hopes the president “follows the advice of his own attorney general” and signs the House-passed legislation. “His attorney general negotiated it, so hopefully he’ll support his attorney general,” the legislator told reporters last week. Cornyn favors a temporary extension to avoid a lapse in FISA authorities.

What passed in the House “makes sense as a starting point, but Congress needs to put pressure on members to come up with reforms,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told us. He supports a short-term extension. He understands the position of Lee and Paul, “a point I actually understand in terms of reform.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., doesn’t think the House-passed protections go far enough for privacy. The bill’s language allows “digital tracking of Americans” and warrantless collection of web browsing and internet searches. Web browsing is a window into Americans’ lives and thoughts, so the law needs to catch up with this reality, he told us.

“Now is your chance to fix the problems in FISA, and we need to do it, and we need to do it now,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. He supports a 30-to-45-day extension and also understands the point from Lee and Paul.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, shared concerns about a potential lapse in surveillance authorities. Barr’s recommendation showed there's work to be done with FISA, she said. Asked if she hopes the president signs the bill, she said that “we’ll see where we go.” The legislation needs a hard look, said Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., citing concerns about terrorism and protecting civil liberties.

Free Press Action Government Relations Director Sandra Fulton blamed McConnell for “blocking” votes on amendments or alternative bills carrying essential FISA revisions. Fulton said that “if McConnell’s push through the Senate succeeds, it would renew the government’s power to warrantlessly acquire billions of data points on every person in the" U.S.