Welcome to Washington: The SAVE America Act’s Last Stand

After spending two weeks out of town, Congress is back and confronting a debate over the reauthorization of the warrantless spying provision in a post-9/11 national security law. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows the government to perform surveillance of non-Americans without a warrant. Hardline Republicans see it as their last chance to get President Trump’s voter ID bill over the finish line, likely setting up a nasty fight on the floor. Welcome to Washington, where a brief moment of bipartisanship may already be passing. As Democrats and Republicans grapple with the aftershock of the resignations of two colleagues accused of sexual misconduct, the SAVE America Act will likely dredge up some classic Capitol Hill acrimony. The SAVE America bill is backed by Mr. Trump to require Americans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote. It would also require would-be voters to show photo identifications when they actually go to cast a ballot. Senator John Thune has tried to move it across the Senate floor, though due to Democrats’ opposition, it has not been able to receive a final vote. Senator Mike Lee and others have pushed to either invoke a talking filibuster or nuke the filibuster altogether in order to pass the legislation, though Mr. Thune and other GOP leaders have warned that those are not feasible options, citing opposition from some more moderate Republican senators. In a desperate attempt to force Democrats to swallow the bill, hardline conservative House members think that they can tie the SAVE America Act to Section 702 reauthorization. Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders are trying to get the clean reauthorization as soon as possible, citing heightened national security risks amid the Iran war. Usually, the warrantless surveillance provision is reauthorized with minimal opposition from conservative libertarians and some progressive Democrats. The leader of the charge to attach their voting reform bill to surveillance reauthorization is a conservative lawmaker from Florida, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna. For months, she has warned that she will try to attach the SAVE America Act to Mr. Johnson’s FISA reauthorization in order to jam Senate Democrats on what is seen as a must-pass piece of legislation. If she and her conservative colleagues stick together, they very well could jam up the House for days. “UNTIL THIS IS DONE, I AM A NO ON THE [FISA] BILL … AND I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE! We gave Thune plenty of time to do the right thing,” Ms. Luna wrote back in March. “So, this is how we will have to get it done.” In the last month, Ms. Luna has reupped her threat at least two dozen times, according to her X feed. Section 702 is described by law enforcement officials as a vital national security and anti-terrorism tool, yet the warrantless surveillance power faces criticism over civil liberties concerns. The measure will expire if it is not reauthorized by April 20. Due to lawmakers’ proclivity for leaving town every weekend, Mr. Johnson wants the bill passed through his chamber by the middle of this week so that senators can vote to reauthorize before Thursday. According to a meeting notice from the House Rules Committee’s Republican majority, the bill will be placed under a “rule,” which is simply a procedural vehicle that sets parameters for debate on the floor. In order to even begin debate, the House must vote on a simple majority basis to adopt the rule. Once that happens and debate is exhausted, the bill can then be passed, again by a simple majority. Democrats have in the past been unwilling to ever help Mr. Johnson on his rule votes, even if they support the legislation set to be considered. Democrats are almost certain to do the same this time around. The last time Section 702 was reauthorized was in 2024. At that time, conservatives successfully tanked Mr. Johnson’s rule vote after Mr. Trump — then a private citizen — urged lawmakers to demand reforms to FISA. The House later passed the rule by a one-vote margin, with Republicans getting back on board and all Democrats voting no. The next day, the House passed FISA reauthorization by a wide margin, with 147 Democrats siding with 126 Republicans voting for passage. This week, it appears Democrats will make the same play. “As the Trump administration continues to run roughshod over our Constitution, we cannot continue to give them a further opening to sacrifice our civil liberties in the name of national security,” a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a former Progressive Caucus chairwoman, has said. With Democrats looking to thumb their noses at the speaker and hardline conservatives dead-set on using reauthorization as a vehicle for the SAVE America Act, Mr. Johnson will be forced to go to the president himself for help. That means asking the man who says Congress should use every pressure point possible to get the SAVE Act passed to help find enough votes to pass the FISA reauthorization.

Welcome to Washington: The SAVE America Act’s Last Stand

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