Rand Paul willing to let FISA 702 expire if Senate doesn’t vote on warrant amendment

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 17, 2024

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said he would have no problem letting Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expire if Democrat leaders in the Senate fail to allow a vote on an amendment requiring a warrant for federal agencies to search the data of United States citizens.

Sen. Rand Paul / C-SPAN

“We’re trying to make sure there’s a debate over whether or not Americans should be spied on by their own government,” Paul said Monday night. “We need more protections of Americans.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would move to schedule a vote for Thursday. Section 702 of FISA expires on Friday.

“Democrats and Republicans have to work together to meet the April 19 deadline. If we don’t cooperate, FISA will expire. So we must be ready to cooperate,” Schumer said Tuesday morning.

Paul says he also wants votes on amendments that would prohibit FISA from being used on Americans altogether, as well as prohibiting the purchase of intelligence data without a warrant.

Paul also slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson for casting the deciding vote that killed Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs’s proposed an amendment that would have included a warrant requirement.

“FISA doesn’t obey the Fourth Amendment, and so Speaker Johnson was incredibly wrong,” Paul said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “He broke the tie. He voted with the Democrats. Here we have the leader of the Republicans in the House votes with the Democrats against a warrant requirement. We also have Speaker Johnson voting for the spending package, once again with the majority of the Democrats. As I see it now, I’m not so sure there’s a difference between Mike Johnson being in charge and the Democrats being in charge.”

The Kentucky senator noted how Johnson “seemed” to be a conservative when he became House speaker, but argued that he has failed to make any real progress for House Republicans. He added that both Democrats and national security “hawks” have benefited from Johnson’s recent voting decisions.

“But Johnson hasn’t held his ground,” Paul said. “He has power, he has the majority. Use the power of the purse, Speaker Johnson. Do something to make us think you are different than the Democrats, but so far, I don’t see a lot of difference.”

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