Speaker Johnson will have to go back to the drawing board on a reauthorization of the federal government’s warrantless surveillance powers after legislation to extend the program was killed by House conservatives on Wednesday. Mr. Johnson is facing a movement by some conservatives to oust him from his job, in part, because of how he handled this issue. 

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, better known by its acronym FISA, which grants broad powers to the federal government to intercept communication and surveil foreign nationals, has come under scrutiny in recent years after the law was used to spy on President Trump’s 2016 campaign. 

Conservatives and liberals alike wanted the reauthorization bill to include a requirement that law enforcement receive a warrant from a judge before they spy on American citizens. The main issue reform advocates have with FISA is that too often Americans get caught up in surveillance operations of foreign nationals. 

The top Republican and Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Congressmen Jim Jordan and Jerry Nadler, came up with their own bill that would have instituted such a warrant requirement. Mr. Johnson refused to accept that bill, and on Wednesday, those conservative and Democratic reform advocates voted to kill the reauthorization. 

In total, 19 GOP members voted with all Democrats against Mr. Johnson’s proposal. The vote failed with 228 voting against and 193 voting in favor.

President Trump weighed in on the FISA fight in an early morning Truth Social post on Wednesday. “KILL FISA,” he demanded, saying that “IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED” against his campaign. 

Several Trump allies publicly came out against the FISA reauthorization after Mr. Trump made that statement. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, Congressman Matt Gaetz, and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert all announced their opposition on Wednesday before the vote. 

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has for weeks been making the argument that Mr. Johnson needs to put the warrant requirement bill up for a vote on the House floor. She is threatening to force a vote on a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair — the tool used to oust Speaker McCarthy that could soon be used against Mr. Johnson.

Following a meeting of the Republican conference on Wednesday morning, Ms. Greene emerged to say Mr. Johnson was making a “mistake” by putting the clean reauthorization bill on the floor against the will of her conservative colleagues. 

“He’s in there urging members to vote to reauthorize FISA,” she said after the morning meeting. “I don’t think he has the votes for it right now. We’re going to be working on this. We do not believe in warrantless spying on the American people.”

Ms. Greene met with the speaker for over an hour in his office suite before the reauthorization vote on Wednesday. She told reporters that the meeting was “passionate” at times, and that she heard nothing more than “excuses” from Mr. Johnson. She has already introduced a motion to vacate the speaker, and has the opportunity to force a vote on it at any time. 

Ms. Greene says that if Mr. Johnson puts a Ukraine aid bill up for a vote — which could happen next week, according to Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick — then she will move to oust him from his position.