House Passes Surveillance Bill

“House Republicans have bridged an extreme divide within their conference over how to reform a surveillance mechanism used by government agencies that for months has repeatedly foiled leadership plans to address the issue,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a bipartisan vote, the House reauthorized a part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Friday, 273-147. It also needs to be passed by the Senate, where a majority of senators support the authorization, before an April 19 deadline.”

“House GOP leadership’s goal to pass the bill by the end of this week almost did not happen after 19 far-right Republicans blocked debate on the measure Wednesday by voting against advancing beyond a procedural hurdle. The group took advantage of Republicans’ narrow two-vote majority to protest failure to meet their demands to incorporate changes to the bill.”

Playbook: “The bill’s passage marked a hard-fought victory for Johnson, who finally got Republicans on board to pass the rule for the legislation this morning on the fourth try in six months. It also saw an unusually diverse set of odd bedfellows coalesce to try to impose new curbs on intelligence gathering.”