Trump hosts FISA holdouts in final push for support

Kate Santaliz

Speaker Mike Johnson at the U.S. Capitol on April 14. Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images

President Trump will host FISA-skeptical lawmakers at the White House Tuesday night in a last-ditch effort to flip holdouts ahead of Wednesday's vote on reauthorizing the surveillance program.

Why it matters: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing an uphill climb to pass a clean extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and is leaning heavily on the White House to get it over the line.

Trump and GOP leaders have been urging members to support a clean 18-month extension.
But members of both parties are deeply opposed to FISA, and hardline conservatives are threatening to sink the bill without changes around privacy concerns.
Other members are also demanding that the SAVE America Act, the GOP's signature elections bill, be attached to FISA — which would render it dead on arrival in the Senate.
Politico first reported Tuesday's briefing.

Driving the news: The administration and GOP leadership have been working for weeks to win over holdouts, including hosting a briefing at the White House for skeptics just before the two-week recess, Axios previously reported.

In a statement of administration policy Monday night obtained by Axios, the White House argued threats tied to the "Biden border crisis," drug cartels and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure underscore the need to preserve FISA authorities.
Johnson, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) were also invited to the briefing, two sources told Axios.

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Trump hosts FISA holdouts in final push for support

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