House will try again on reauthorization of US spy program after Republican upheaval

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will try again Friday to advance a bill that would reauthorize a crucial national security surveillance program, a second attempt just days after a conservative revolt prevented similar legislation from reaching the floor.

Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to bring forward a Plan B that would reform and extend a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act known as Section 702 for a shortened period of two years, instead of the full five-year reauthorization first proposed, in hopes that the shorter timeline will sway GOP critics.

“We’re going to try to find a way to unlock the rule. And I think it’s possible,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday evening, referring to the step needed to bring up the legislation. “I mean, there are some differences of opinion. But I think everyone — most everyone — understands the necessity of getting this right and getting it done.”

It is unclear if Johnson, who has called the program “critical” to national security, will have the Republican support necessary to move ahead.

Skepticism of the government’s spy powers has grown dramatically in recent years, particularly on the right. Republicans have clashed for months over what a legislative overhaul of the surveillance program should look like, creating divisions that spilled onto the House floor this week as 19 Republicans broke with their party to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote.

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