Divisions within the House Republican Conference continue to widen as 19 conservatives clashed with party leadership Wednesday, killing Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal to advance reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in a 119-228 vote.
Had today's procedural vote to advance FISA reform passed, Congress would have moved closer toward retooling Section 702 of FISA, a provision allowing U.S. intelligence authorities to conduct warrantless surveillance on foreigners abroad. Johnson's bill would have introduced new safeguards to Section 702 data and criminalized the use of backdoor loopholes to collect such data. But - - It didn't happen as Republicans couldn't even agree with each other on what they want.
Do we really want these clowns running the country again?