Eighty-Six House Republicans Vote for Warrantless Surveillance of Americans

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    AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

    Eighty-six House Republicans on Friday voted against an amendment to require a warrant for surveillance of Americans’ communications.

    Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) proposed an amendment to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 is a law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ private communications without a warrant.

    The amendment tied at 212-212 in the House; a tie in the House means that the measure fails. Although Biggs’s amendment did receive support from a majority of Republicans, 86 House Republicans failed to support the proposal.

    A warrant requirement is overwhelmingly backed by Americans. A YouGov poll commissioned by FreedomWorks and Demand Progress found that 76 percent of Americans support a warrant requirement, while only 12 percent oppose.

    Only one member of House Republican leadership voted with the majority of the House Republican Conference on warrants requirements: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN). Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) voted against the warrant requirement.

    Johnson used to support closing the backdoor search loophole, or the ability to surveil Americans through Section 702, which is meant to target foreigners. However, he changed his mind after seeing a classified briefing after becoming Speaker.

    The 86 House Republicans that voted for warrantless surveillance of Americans are:

    AderholtRepublicanALNO
    BaconRepublicanNENO
    BaldersonRepublicanOHNO
    BarrRepublicanKYNO
    BiceRepublicanOKNO
    BuchananRepublicanFLNO
    BucshonRepublicanINNO
    BurgessRepublicanTXNO
    CalvertRepublicanCANO
    CarlRepublicanALNO
    Carter (GA)RepublicanGANO
    Carter (TX)RepublicanTXNO
    Chavez-DeRemerRepublicanORNO
    ColeRepublicanOKNO
    CrawfordRepublicanARNO
    CrenshawRepublicanTXNO
    D’EspositoRepublicanNYNO
    De La CruzRepublicanTXNO
    Diaz-BalartRepublicanFLNO
    DuarteRepublicanCANO
    EllzeyRepublicanTXNO
    EstesRepublicanKSNO
    EzellRepublicanMSNO
    FeenstraRepublicanIANO
    FergusonRepublicanGANO
    FitzpatrickRepublicanPANO
    FloodRepublicanNENO
    Franklin, ScottRepublicanFLNO
    GallagherRepublicanWINO
    GarbarinoRepublicanNYNO
    Garcia, MikeRepublicanCANO
    GimenezRepublicanFLNO
    Gonzales, TonyRepublicanTXNO
    GrangerRepublicanTXNO
    Graves (MO)RepublicanMONO
    GuthrieRepublicanKYNO
    HillRepublicanARNO
    HinsonRepublicanIANO
    Johnson (LA)RepublicanLANO
    Joyce (OH)RepublicanOHNO
    Kean (NJ)RepublicanNJNO
    Kelly (MS)RepublicanMSNO
    Kelly (PA)RepublicanPANO
    Kiggans (VA)RepublicanVANO
    Kim (CA)RepublicanCANO
    KustoffRepublicanTNNO
    LaHoodRepublicanILNO
    LaLotaRepublicanNYNO
    LambornRepublicanCONO
    LattaRepublicanOHNO
    LaTurnerRepublicanKSNO
    LawlerRepublicanNYNO
    LetlowRepublicanLANO
    LucasRepublicanOKNO
    MalliotakisRepublicanNYNO
    McCaulRepublicanTXNO
    McHenryRepublicanNCNO
    Miller (OH)RepublicanOHNO
    Miller (WV)RepublicanWVNO
    Miller-MeeksRepublicanIANO
    Moore (UT)RepublicanUTNO
    MoylanRepublicanGUNO
    MurphyRepublicanNCNO
    Nunn (IA)RepublicanIANO
    ObernolteRepublicanCANO
    PenceRepublicanINNO
    PflugerRepublicanTXNO
    Rogers (AL)RepublicanALNO
    Rogers (KY)RepublicanKYNO
    RouzerRepublicanNCNO
    RutherfordRepublicanFLNO
    SalazarRepublicanFLNO
    ScaliseRepublicanLANO
    Scott, AustinRepublicanGANO
    Smith (NE)RepublicanNENO
    SmuckerRepublicanPANO
    StefanikRepublicanNYNO
    StrongRepublicanALNO
    TenneyRepublicanNYNO
    TurnerRepublicanOHNO
    ValadaoRepublicanCANO
    Van OrdenRepublicanWINO
    WagnerRepublicanMONO
    WaltzRepublicanFLNO
    WenstrupRepublicanOHNO
    WomackRepublicanARNO

    Conservatives and progressives blamed congressional leadership for pushing against genuine privacy reform.

    Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wrote, “This is how the Constitution dies. By a tie vote, the amendment to require a warrant to spy on Americans goes down in flames. This is a sad day for America. The Speaker doesn’t always vote in the House, but he was the tie breaker today. He voted against warrants.”

    Demand Progress Policy Director Sean Vitka said in a statement after the vote:

    Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) wrote, “Here they go again, expanding FISA. Bipartisan skulduggery. A sad day for America.”

    Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) wrote, “Today’s FISA warrant amendment vote was tied, which means every single vote was the deciding vote. Make your decisions about who represents you based on supporting your Constitutional rights.”

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