Speaker Johnson to Newsmax: Will Get Consensus on FISA Extension

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Newsmax on Wednesday he's working to build consensus on extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire April 20.

House GOP leaders postponed a procedural vote Wednesday on extending Section 702, which lets the federal government collect foreign intelligence information by monitoring non-U.S. people located outside the country without a warrant for each target.

The program can incidentally capture Americans' communications.

Newsmax congressional correspondent Kilmeny Duchardt asked Johnson at the Capitol what it will take to get the extension across the finish line.

"Consensus building, as it always does," he said. "We'll get it done."

Lawmakers are divided over whether to renew the authority as-is or require a warrant before the FBI searches that data for information involving U.S. citizens.

Supporters argue the tool is vital for tracking terrorists and foreign adversaries, but critics say it risks violating Americans' Fourth Amendment protection.

The dispute has created an unusual alliance of conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats pushing for changes, complicating efforts to extend the program before its expiration deadline.

Congress made a number of reforms when it last reauthorized Section 702 in April 2024 but rejected a requirement for a warrant before searching Americans' communications.

President Donald Trump favors a clean extension without changes, even though the section was used against him during the investigation into his 2016 presidential campaign's alleged ties to the Russian government, which Trump and his allies have said was a hoax.

Further complicating matters, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., frustrated over the SAVE America Act being stalled in the Senate, has threatened to attach the voter ID bill to any FISA measure coming out of the House.

Duchardt asked Johnson whether a vote on the extension would happen Wednesday night.

"Tonight or tomorrow," he said. "Probably tomorrow at this point. We're working through it."

Johnson told another reporter that lawmakers expressing concerns about a clean extension "are doing that out of good faith."

"They have convictions about it," he said. "I've encouraged everyone to go to the SCIF [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility], go to the classified setting, get the briefing.

"In fact, we set up a special one this afternoon … with the leaders and officials of the various agencies of the intelligence community, so they can answer questions from members and help everybody get to yes.

"I think once they understand the facts, they will understand the 56 reforms that we did to FISA in 2024 have worked. We haven't had the abuses that we had pre-reform era, and that's why it needs to be continued.

"As it has been stated by the president and our CIA director, John Radcliffe, who came and spoke with us this morning, [Director] Kash Patel at the FBI, everybody, including [Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair] Gen. [Dan] Caine and [War Secretary] Pete Hegseth, this is an essential tool for national security," explained Johnson. "We cannot allow it to expire, and we won't."

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