After 2 failed votes, Mike Johnson unveils new plan to extend key U.S. spy powers

Politics After 2 failed votes, Mike Johnson unveils new plan to extend key U.S. spy powers April 24, 20265:00 AM ET Eric McDaniel Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., takes questions at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP Speaker Mike Johnson, R.-La., is forging ahead with his latest proposal to renew a key American spy power. His bill, revealed Thursday, is largely unchanged from a previous plan which failed in a series of overnight votes earlier this month. The program at center of the debate, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), is set to expire on April 30. FISA 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to intercept the electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside of the United States. Some of the nearly 350,000 foreign targets whose communications are collected under the provision are in touch with Americans, whose calls, texts and emails could end up in the trove of information available to the federal government for review. Sponsor Message Politics Why Congress is fighting over a central tool of American surveillance For almost two decades, privacy-minded lawmakers from both parties have sought to require specific court approval before federal law enforcement can conduct a targeted review of an American's information gathered through the program. The lack of any such warrant requirement helped sink an effort last week to extend the program for 18 months, as well as a separate vote on a five-year renewal.  Trump officials, like those in past administrations, have argued that such a warrant requirement would overburden law enforcement and endanger national security. Johnson's latest proposal would reauthorize the program for three years, but does not include a warrant requirement. Instead, the bill calls for the FBI to submit monthly explanations for reviews of Americans' information to an oversight official as well as criminal penal...