IS THIRD TIME THE CHARM FOR FISA? — Congress returns from its two-week Easter recess with all eyes on the House. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON — still staring down a possible mutiny — will have to navigate multiple thorny matters that divide his conference, further jeopardizing his precarious position. First up: A reauthorization of a foreign surveillance law that the speaker has twice punted due to GOP infighting. (Section 702 of FISA expires on April 19, which is why they’re doing this now.) At the crux of the debate is a pair of contentious amendments being pushed by privacy hawks eager to rein in Uncle Sam’s ability to gather Americans’ personal information — and a coordinated effort by national security-minded members to halt those amendments. The matter doesn’t break along party lines. Among the odd bedfellows on this legislation: Judiciary Chair JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) and ranking Democrat JERRY NADLER (D-N.Y.) and — on the other side of things — Intel Chair MIKE TURNER (R-Ohio) and the Biden administration. Deepening those divides are two key sets of issues: 1. Data privacy concerns. Earlier this year, at the urging of House Judiciary conservatives like Jordan and Ohio Rep. WARREN DAVIDSON, the speaker outlined a plan to allow a FISA amendment vote on restricting data brokers from selling consumer information to law enforcement. That move infuriated Republicans on the House Intelligence committee, who threatened to tank the bill. Now, the speaker has backtracked. The new base text expected to be voted on this week doesn’t include those reforms — nor will they be allowed as an amendment. “FISA is about surveillance of foreigners abroad — the issues of Americans’ privacy and data are unrelated to our spying on foreigners,” Turner told us last night. “The parliamentarian has ruled that it was not germane to this issue. And individuals who try to make it related to FISA are just being disingenuous and untruthful.” Conservatives, needless to say, aren’t happy — and they’re taking it out on Johnson. “It’s disappointing to watch Speaker Johnson, who was a strong defender of essentially the same bills … when he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, now as speaker essentially has crossed all the way over to the intel point of view,” Davidson told Playbook. Johnson has floated the idea of moving the data privacy matter as a standalone bill. But since it wouldn’t be tucked into must-pass legislation, the Senate can ignore it. “They essentially want to concede that, ‘Okay, we allowed the debate to happen — but we are working very aggressively to make sure it doesn’t become law,” Davidson said. 2. New warrant requirements. The same privacy coalition is also pushing for new warrant requirements on the nation’s spy power. While FISA backers note that surveillance targets foreign threats, those searches can at times sweep in Americans’ personal information if they’re in contact with subjects being investigated. Members like Davidson have teamed up with progressives like Rep. ZOE LOFGREN (D-Calif.) to require a warrant for such information. We’re told that the matter will get a vote this week. Turner told Playbook that he’s confident the new warrant language will fail — though he notably refused to say if Intelligence Republicans like him would oppose the underlying bill if it gets adopted. “They will lose because the only way that you would vote for a warrant to spy on foreigners abroad is if you are confused and believe false rhetoric,” Turner said, arguing that suggestions that FISA is targeting Americans are “false,” and that the proposal at question “significantly destroys our ability to keep America safe.” Behind the scenes, opponents of the language are preparing a two-front campaign this week to ensure Turner’s prediction comes true. — On the right, Republicans have been in touch with a pair of former House Republicans-turned-celebrity national security hawks to try to make this case to their own colleagues. We hear that former Reps. MIKE POMPEO (R-Kan.), who served as CIA director and secretary of State under then-President Trump, and JOHN RATCLIFFE (R-Texas), who was Trump’s director of National Intelligence, are expected to be involved in some way. — On the left, the administration has been working with security-minded Dems to defeat the warrant amendment by making the case that the provision would undercut national security. The administration — including officials from the CIA, FBI and other top intelligence offices — will brief House members about FISA on Wednesday. Davidson conceded that their warrant amendment might go down on the floor. And there’s one man he blames for it: Johnson. Johnson has changed his own position on how FISA should be debated three times, Davidson said, developing a proposal that became increasingly favorable to the intel community over time. “It seems the speaker has a plan to tank that as well,” Davidson said of the warrant amendment, referring to Johnson allowing the administration’s briefing. “What it’s designed to do is to kill the entire reform effort.” A DYNAMIC TO KEEP AN EYE ON:Pay attention to the ongoing feud between House Republicans in Ohio, who happen to be the ringleaders on each side of this debate. We got a feel for it in our conversations with Turner and Davidson yesterday — neither Buckeye is particularly thrilled with the other right now. Turner balked at Davidson’s work with Lofgren on the warrant amendment, calling it a “left-wing bill.” “This is not a ‘conservative’ issue,” Turner said. Davidson needled Turner for watering down the House’s FISA reforms. He even accused his delegation-mate of trying to “scuttle” a FISA framework more favorable to Judiciary members by causing a public ruckus in February over intelligence that turned out to be related to Russia trying to put nuclear weapons in space. (Turner has denied this.) “Turner fully sabotaged everything, so he must feel pretty happy,” Davidson said. We’ll also be interested to see how this impacts Johnson’s standing with his members — particularly given that MTG looks increasingly likely to force a vote to oust him. Davidson, notably, was one of Jordan’s top vote-counters and whips when he ran for speaker. Could he be getting ready for another campaign to launch his longtime friend into leadership? We asked. He wouldn’t go there. Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
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