Talks about possible changes began Tuesday night, As first reported by Politico. Holdouts are demanding railing on the program, including warrant requirements; The White House is prepared to make changes in this regard, but likely in a much lesser capacity than what hard-liners are seeking.
Ultraconservatives are also pressuring House GOP leaders and the White House to follow through on a previous promise to ban central bank digital currencies, known as CBDCs. House GOP leadership and the White House are pushing for a lengthy extension of Section 702 in exchange for pursuing that policy or other reforms, while some hard-liners want the promised CBDC ban passed as a standalone rather than attached to the FISA bill.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in an interview that White House officials, GOP leaders and Republican holdouts are discussing some “potential amendments.” “We are still negotiating,” he said. He said GOP leaders and White House officials would not include any changes that weaken the underlying government surveillance program.
There has been no consensus on anything. And Scalise said in an earlier interview that if the White House approves, leaders would include “minor changes” to the procedural rules governing floor debate on the underlying bill.
However, so far the negotiations have not moved the needle substantially. Hardliners are not budging, continuing to resist renewed calls from Trump and an increasingly aggressive pressure campaign from the administration. This included a detailed presentation from CIA Director John Ratcliffe at a closed-door House GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning on the need for cleanup expansion.
“Look, he’s executive, we’re legislative, and we’re going to see a little bit of a conflict between those two today,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) said Wednesday, referring to the president.
GOP Reps. Michael Cloud of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and other hard-liners stood up at the GOP conference meeting to voice their concerns about clean reauthorization and continue to push for an overhaul of the program. According to four people at the meeting, some Republicans were irritated that Ratcliffe “filibustered” until near the meeting’s scheduled conclusion to avoid challenging questions.
Even before voting on the rule was postponed, several lay members said they did not believe the rule would be adopted.
“There are some people who will certainly vote against the rule,” said one House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “It’s a math issue.”
Democrats are not expected to help Republicans overcome the procedural rule, even though some of them support reauthorization without a change in policy at this time. The top Democrats on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees — Representatives Jim Himes of Connecticut and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, respectively — discussed a joint proposal at their party’s weekly caucus meeting Monday morning for a package of FISA overhaul provisions, which they plan to try to pursue if the Republican rule fails, according to two people at the meeting.
A fail-safe option, if negotiations do not yield results soon, is to try a very short-term categorical extension – possibly a few months – to buy more time for negotiations. White House officials and GOP leaders are trying to avoid that scenario.
Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.
