House to clear major roadblock on data privacy amid showdown over federal surveillance powers

A sticking point in Congress’ fight over renewing a controversial surveillance tool appears to have been resolved days before the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the issue, but not everyone is happy with the decision.

"Freedom surrendered is rarely reclaimed. It looks like the plan has shifted to further infringe the right to privacy - under the guise of [FISA] reform. Shameful," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, wrote on X.

Discussions over renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on April 19, abruptly blew up in February when Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee walked away from a compromise bill they spent months putting together with the House Judiciary Committee.

Multiple sources close to the Intelligence panel told Fox News Digital at the time that the legislative text had been changed to potentially allow for the inclusion of an amendment led by Davidson that would have required the federal government to obtain a warrant before purchasing U.S. citizens’ data from big tech firms. Those sources argued that it was unrelated to Section 702’s intelligence gathering practices and could have sunk the bill.

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Davidson's measure, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, would instead be getting a separate vote on the House floor.

"This time it's going to be its own bill, separately to FISA," Scalise said. "So that one's gonna go separately."

"We wanted to get this before the membership, before the expiration of FISA and get it over to the Senate," he added.

It is not immediately clear when that measure would get a