(The Center Square) \u2013 After two attempts last week to reauthorize a controversial spy power of the federal government, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has unveiled the text of a three-year extension.<\/p>\n
The new proposal, however, fails to include key privacy reforms that dozens of House Republicans are demanding to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires April 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States Constitution is NOT a suggestion \u2013 the Fourth Amendment is the law of the land,\u201d Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, posted on X after the bill text<\/a> dropped Thursday. \u201cWarrantless searches of American citizens are ongoing. We cannot allow this gross abuse of government overreach to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n Self had voted with more than a dozen other House Republicans to tank both a five-year extension and an 18-month extension<\/a> of FISA Section 702 last Friday.<\/p>\n On paper, FISA Section 702 allows federal intelligence agencies to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance on foreign nationals of suspicion.<\/p>\n But in practice, the electronic data of American citizens \u2013 including emails, text messages, and phone calls \u2013 are routinely collected as well.<\/p>\n The major controversy lies in the fact that federal intelligence agents will routinely search through that database without obtaining a warrant, which many critics view as a violation of Americans\u2019 Fourth Amendment Rights.<\/p>\n As part of the overall pushback against warrantless surveillance, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act<\/a> on Thursday as well.<\/p>\n The bill would not only prohibit federal agencies from searching or obtaining Americans\u2019 metadata without a warrant based on probable cause, but would also allow individuals to sue for damages if the federal government infringes on their Fourth Amendment rights.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of talk about FISA and [Section] 702 and warrants for the past few weeks now, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s where the issue ultimately lies,\u201d Boebert told reporters. \u201cSure, it is a problem when anyone, any American citizen is looked into without a warrant, but it doesn\u2019t end under FISA, it doesn\u2019t end under 702.\u201d<\/p>\n