May 28, 2020 | 9:25am | Updated May 28, 2020 | 11:01am
House Democrats decided to hold off on a vote to extend provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, caving in to pressure from progressives and top GOP leaders.
The decision came amid a chaotic day on Capitol Hill, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delayed a vote on the measure three times Wednesday after it became clear that passage of the bill was not guaranteed.
Opposition to the legislation had emerged from President Trump, who threatened to veto it if it reached his desk; House Republicans, who publicly requested that a vote on the bill be postponed; and even progressive Democrats.
Pelosi initially rejected the requests to table the package, telling reporters Wednesday, “We’ll act upon it today one way or another.”
By the end of the day, however, Pelosi did not appear ready to move a vote forward.
The legislation was passed in its original form in the House without much support from Democrats, with only 152 voting in favor.
The bill was modified by the Senate during debate on the legislation, adding legal protections for some FISA warrant applicants. The changes forced the bill to be sent back to the House.
As the House began negotiating on the newly modified bill earlier this month, a rift emerged among Democrats over some privacy protections.
Last week, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) was able to make some progress in moving the reauthorization forward by securing a vote on an amendment that would ban the government from being able to access the internet history of Americans through a provision of the FISA law.
She introduced the amendment with Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and negotiated with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
The problem, however, was that the amendment appeared to closely mirror some of the content that failed in the Senate by a single vote.
That language was offered by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who went from praising the House bill to lashing out at Schiff for the change. The Oregon Democrat accused Schiff of undermining the original text and called on lawmakers to reject the entire FISA bill.
While the original legislation was negotiated by Attorney General William Barr and multiple top allies of the president, Barr’s team at the Justice Department now opposes the bill.
The bill would reauthorize three expired surveillance programs under the 2015 USA Freedom Act, an intelligence reform law, and make some adjustments to the FISA court.
As for whether the bill will be brought to the floor for a vote Thursday, Pelosi told reporters outside the Capitol Wednesday night, “We’ll see.”
