Conservatives in the House have blocked the reauthorization of a key FISA program, and DeSantis signs a series of bills targeting child safety. 

Conservative revolt in House blocks effort to reauthorize key U.S. spy tool

A bill that would reauthorize a crucial national security surveillance program was blocked Wednesday by a conservative revolt, pushing the prospects of final passage into uncertainty amid a looming deadline. The legislative impasse also follows an edict earlier in the day from former President Donald Trump to "kill" the measure.

The legislative breakdown comes months after a similar process to reform and reauthorize the surveillance program fell apart before it even reached the House floor. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has called the program "critically important" but has struggled to find a path forward on the issue, which has been plagued by partisan bickering for years. The procedural vote to bring up the bill failed 193-228. Nineteen Republicans voted no.

The bill under consideration would renew the surveillance program with a series of reforms meant to satisfy critics who complained of civil liberties violations against Americans. But Republican critics complained that those changes did not go far enough, calling into doubt whether the bill backed by the Biden administration and Johnson would have enough votes to advance.

At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of non-Americans located outside the country to gather foreign intelligence. It is set to expire on April 19 if Congress does not act.

U.S. officials have said the tool, first authorized in 2008 and renewed several times since then, is crucial in disrupting terror attacks, cyber intrusions and foreign espionage, and has also produced intelligence that the U.S. has relied on for specific operations.

But the administration's efforts to secure reauthorization of the program have encountered fierce, and bipartisan, pushback, with Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden who have long championed civil liberties aligning with Republican supporters of Trump, who in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday stated incorrectly that Section 702 had been used to spy on his presidential campaign.

"Kill FISA," he wrote in all capital letters. "It was illegally used against me, and many others. They spied on my campaign." A former adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign was targeted over potential ties to Russia under a different section of the surveillance law.

A specific area of concern for lawmakers has centered on the FBI's use of the vast intelligence repository to look up information about Americans and others in the U.S. Though the surveillance program only targets non-Americans in other countries, it also collects communications of Americans when they are in contact with those targeted foreigners.

In the past year, U.S. officials have revealed a series of abuses and mistakes by FBI analysts in improperly querying the intelligence repository for information about Americans or others in the U.S, including about a member of Congress and participants in the racial justice protests of 2020 and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Those violations have led to demands for the FBI to have a warrant before conducting database queries on Americans, which FBI director Chris Wray has warned would effectively gut the effectiveness of the program and was also legally unnecessary since the database contained already lawfully collected information.

"While it is imperative that we ensure this critical authority of 702 does not lapse, we also must not undercut the effectiveness of this essential tool with a warrant requirement or some similar restriction, paralyzing our ability to tackle fast-moving threats," Wray said in a speech Tuesday.

Johnson made a fresh push for passage on Wednesday, saying: "It's critical we address these abuses because we don't want to be able to lose section 702 of FISA. It's a critically important piece of our intelligence and law enforcement in this country."

Though the program would technically expire on April 19, the Biden administration said it expects its authority to collect intelligence to remain operational for another year, thanks to an earlier opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees surveillance applications.

DeSantis signs child protection bills in St. Pete

Gov. Ron DeSantis made a stop in St. Petersburg Wednesday to sign multiple bills into law focused on protecting young people.

One of the bills was inspired by Gabby Petito, who died in August 2021 when she was killed by boyfriend Brian Laundrie while the two were on a cross-country vacation.

She was 22. Laundrie later took his own life upon returning to Florida.

One of those bills includes better training for law enforcement on how to handle domestic violence situations.

The Petito family has been pushing for it and DeSantis said he is proud to make it law.

"Gabby's father Joe has been supporting and pushing for the language in the legislation as well as other members of the family and foundation,” DeSantis said. “And today we honor those efforts by making this the law of the land in the state of Florida."

The bills signed today include:

• HB 1545, which protects children from grooming activities and other sexual offenses.
• HB 1131, which establishes a grant program within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create online sting operations to target sexual predators.
• HB 1235, which creates stricter guidelines for sex offender registration.
• SB 1224, which strengthens the role of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office and implements new training requirements to ensure law enforcement properly assesses a domestic violence situation.
• HB 305, which expands the evidence that can be presented to a jury in sex-abuse cases where the victim is a minor and increases penalties on those who take part in sex trafficking of minors.

“In Florida, we let kids be kids, and we protect children from those who seek to harm them,” DeSantis said. “Today’s anti-grooming legislation punishes those who seek to prey on children and rob them of their innocence. Florida will continue to be the best state in the country to raise a family.”

Third-party candidates could have 'monumental' impact in N.C. presidential race

North Carolina is shaping up to be one of the most competitive battlegrounds in the race for president.

While a Democrat hasn’t won the state since 2008, the difference between first and second place is typically within just a couple percentage points.

The number of third-party candidates this year could be a major factor.

“Those votes that go to third parties or write-in candidates could have a monumental impact in a state like North Carolina,” Catawba College Politics Professor Michael Bitzer said.

One of those candidates is Robert F Kennedy Jr., the eldest son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own run for president in 1968. 

Last month his campaign announced it had signatures to qualify to get a new party, We The People, on North Carolina’s ballot. Kennedy is running as a We The People candidate.

It’s not a done deal that he’ll be on the ballot, but he could siphon votes from both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The question is who he hurts more.

“He could potentially pull from both sides," Bitzer said. "The question is how much influence, and who does he pull from come November’s general election."

Realizing that, outside organizations like MoveOn, which supports Biden, will be targeting Kennedy, including with advertising dollars.

“It’s incredibly important that we get to work now campaigning against Robert Kennedy. And it takes a village, so we’re going to do our work on the outside,” MoveOn Executive Director Rahna Epting said.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Justice For All candidate Cornel West also could hurt Biden more than Trump. Although they haven’t submitted the necessary signatures yet to get on the ballot in North Carolina, even as write-in candidates, they could be a spoiler for Biden in the state.

Recently, though, Biden did get a win when it comes to who’s not running.

“I thought we had a good shot at actually winning the presidential campaign if we could find the right candidates," former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory said. "The problem was we couldn’t get the right candidates to commit.” 

McCrory stepped down in March as the co-chair of No Labels. 

The group, which markets itself as a place for centrists upset with Biden and Trump, announced after he left it would not field a candidate.

McCrory said those voters are now left without a home.

"You've got this group that's kind of the old silent majority that has no home to go to," he said.