Scoop: Mad Mike emerges as FISA fight boils over
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House Speaker Mike Johnson during a news conference on March 17. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lost his cool on the House floor, telling Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) she would bear responsibility for "thousands of American deaths" if she votes against reauthorizing FISA, according to sources familiar with the exchange.
- "I was getting a spanking on the floor," Luna told Axios of the previously unreported Wednesday dustup.
Why it matters: Johnson brands himself as a "happy warrior" who never loses his temper, but the battle over extending the government's powers to conduct surveillance on foreign interests in the U.S. under the FISA law is showing the limits of that persona.
- President Trump and GOP leaders are pushing hard for a clean 18-month FISA extension, but a bipartisan coalition of members is deeply opposed, with conservatives threatening to tank the party-line rule vote.
- Pressure from the White House and fears that the key surveillance tool might lapse are pushing the speaker to the edge.
Driving the news: Johnson got heated with Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Luna about their FISA opposition during informal floor conversations amid Wednesday votes, with lawmakers describing Johnson as visibly frustrated and upset.
- Luna told Axios on Thursday that her position on FISA, which she won't support unless it is attached to the SAVE America Act, hasn't changed.
- "They already told me that if it doesn't pass, I'm going to be responsible for thousands of Americans dying, which I would actually say, if Senate Democrats and Leader Thune doesn't pass FISA with voter ID, then they're responsible, not me," Luna told Axios on Wednesday.
- She declined to say whether it was Johnson who told her that, but two sources who saw the exchange said it was Johnson.
What they're saying: Johnson "was upset, just frustrated," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told Axios, describing the exchange.
- Burchett said Johnson was speaking at a "high pitch," adding, "He's upset. I mean, they got him going every which direction."
- Johnson's office declined to comment for this story.
The other side: Johnson has stressed that FISA is a vital national security tool, telling reporters Wednesday that "roughly 65% of the president's daily security briefing comes from collection out of Section 702 of FISA."
- He added: "It's a very important tool to keep Americans safe, and it's not something to play around with."
State of play: GOP leadership punted a vote on reauthorizing FISA this week until after the House returns from its two-week recess, recognizing they did not have the support to push it through.
- FISA will lapse April 20 without congressional action.
- Conservatives are demanding the inclusion of warrant requirements, which Johnson has said would make FISA "unworkable."
- Johnson joined House Freedom Caucus members and other FISA-skeptical lawmakers at the White House this morning for a briefing on reauthorizing the surveillance authority, Axios previously reported.
