House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) will soon unveil the committee’s proposal to rein in a controversial deep-state surveillance program that will expire by the end of the year.
Jordan will soon unveil legislation that will reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which has been long criticized by Jordan, conservatives, progressives, and libertarians.
WATCH: Jim Jordan — There Are 204K Reasons to Oppose FISA Reauthorization:
House Committee on the Judiciary / YouTube
The new legislation, according to draft text reviewed by Breitbart News, would require a warrant for any Americans’ information sought under Section 702. The program does not currently require a warrant for such a search.
“The idea … is to protect Americans’ rights under the Fourth Amendment and under the Constitution,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said about the legislation.
The Judiciary Committee will hold a markup of the bill on Wednesday, in which they will likely vote on the bill; it is expected to garner bipartisan support.
The legislation would also prohibit law enforcement and intelligence agencies form purchasing Americans’ private data through data brokers, a practice which has been known as the “data broker loophole.” Biggs and other lawmakers have decried this practice, believing it to be a run around the Fourth Amendment.
The Judiciary bill would also limit how many FBI agents can search the Section 702 database and would set up penalties for violations under FISA.
The bill’s warrant requirement is broader than the forthcoming legislation from the House Intelligence Committee, which only requires a warrant in the case of “evidence of a crime” searches.
Judiciary Committee members, regardless of party, typically want to rein in Section 702, while Intelligence Committee members are more sympathetic to the needs of the intelligence agencies.
“That’s entirely unworkable. That would be the equivalent of every time a police officer pulls you over in order to run your license plate, they’ve got to get a warrant,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), an Intelligence Committee member, said of the Judiciary bill.
Republicans on both committees have been jockeying for greater influence to reform Section 702. Despite the greater desire to reform the controversial law, there remain differences about to how to address warrant requirements.
There also remains a controversy over whether or not to temporarily extend Section 702 in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other congressional leaders as of last week expect an extension to be included in the NDAA, which is not related to defense policy.
Although it remains uncertain if a Section 702 extension would be included in the bill, many conservatives have called foul at the prospect. Fifty-four bipartisan lawmakers also sent a letter to Johnson and congressional leaders, demanding that they not include an extension in the bill.
Jordan, per sources familiar, opposes the move to temporarily extend Section 702.
Jordan told Breitbart News in an interview this June, that his “number one goal” this year is to stop a blanket authorization of Section 702.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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