Update (1245ET): The ‘Biggs’ amendment, which would have required warrants as part of FISA, has failed following a tiedvote of 212-212.
!!! The House amendment to curtail FISA warrantless surveillance ends in a TIE VOTE, 212-212. That means it fails. 128 Republicans and 84 Democrats voted for it. https://t.co/5kyqu54eoE
โ Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 12, 2024
As Edward Snowden said earlier in the day, “๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ, they must VOTE DOWN the whole bill (“Let 702 lapse”).”
Meanwhile, the White House…
Whoa: the White House is calling the 4th Amendment of the Constitution a threat to National Security. This is a real memo sent out today: the yellow-highlighted sections just translate euphemism (“the Biggs Amendment”) to plain language (Biggs’ warrant req). (Source below in QT) https://t.co/IFMDyeW6C8 pic.twitter.com/bzRhqYnEIt
โ Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 12, 2024
*ย *ย *
The House advanced a new version of a bill to reauthorize American’s use of warrantless surveillance, opening the measure up for debate, amendments, and a final floor vote after a previous iteration of the bill was blocked Republicans.
On Friday, House lawmakers voted 213-208 to advance the modified legislation, just days after 19 Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against advancing the original version of the bill to the floor.
Now, all of the initial holdouts flipped their vote to move the bill forward – after the length of reauthorization was shortened from five years to two, and an agreement to bring Rep. Warren Davidsonโs (R-OH) Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act to the floor sometime next week in a stand-alone vote – which would require the government to obtain a warrant before purchasing information about US citizens from data brokers.
Edward Snowden also encouraged followers to vote for the “Biggs Amendment,” which requires the government to obtain a warrant in general (not just when purchasing from data brokers), and against the “HSPCI Amendments,” which “EXPAND mass surveillance instead of reforming it.”
Snowden says that if the Biggs amendment fails, the whole thing needs to be killed with fire.
๐จโ ๏ธ๐จA vote for WARRANTLESS SEARCHES OF YOUR INTERNET ACTIVITY (“#FISA 702″) is happening ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ก๐. ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ก๐ข๐ช and tell your House Rep to vote:
1) ๐๐ข๐ฅ the “Biggs Amendment” (which requires the gov to GET A WARRANT)
2) ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ๐ง the “HPSCIโฆ https://t.co/jA6N1yAse4
โ Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 12, 2024
Follow the Constitution. Get a warrant. #FISA pic.twitter.com/x6XPlr4Gqz
โ Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) April 12, 2024
And of course, the White House is against the Biggs amendment to force the government to obtain a warrant…
The White House comes out against the bipartisan amendment to FISA renewal (they donโt specify, but this is the only one in the rules package led by Biggs) aimed at curtailing warrantless surveillance. https://t.co/5kyqu53Gz6 pic.twitter.com/xCM9msk1RD
โ Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 12, 2024
Section 702 of FISA allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreigners outside of the US – which allows the government to sweep up communications from Americans who are interacting with individuals who are being spied on.
The ‘Biggs Amendment’ would add a warrant requirement before the government can review information collected on Americans.
The US Security State has been playing the same game for 25 years:
They get caught repeatedly abusing their spying powers, directing it at Americans for illegal and politicized ends.
They apologize, claim they adopted internal fixes, “won’t happen again”.
Everything repeats: https://t.co/0g0l4cuHxZ
โ Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 12, 2024
Biggs and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) got into a massive battle over the bill on X, with Biggs accusing Crenshaw of having “aligned yourself with the DC Cartel that insists on spying on Americans and violating the Bill of Rights.”
Youโve aligned yourself with the DC Cartel that insists on spying on Americans and violating the Bill of Rights.
President Trump, who you claim to support, said to โkill FISAโ just days ago.
Join us in passing a reasonable warrant requirement amendment. https://t.co/tAaW1fY9oZ
โ Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) April 12, 2024
Nope, the secret fisa courts should be done. You can get a warrant, I believed that this was built with good intentions after 9-11, not anymore , power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutelyโฆ GET A Warrant
โ jeff wylie (@Wylie93257) April 12, 2024
DJโs question is great. Iโll explain: They intentionally use the term โtargetโ to mislead. Surveillance of โtargetsโ sweeps up data from millions of Americans, which the intelligence community terms โincidentalโ collection. They then freely search that data without a warrant. https://t.co/9ytoN9iIgx
โ Justin Amash (@justinamash) April 12, 2024
Check back for updates…
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