Trump has changed his mind about a controversial spy bill that expands government surveillance.
Donald Trump Reverses Course on FISA Surveillance Bill He Once Slammed as ‘Illegal’
Donald Trump has once again stirred controversy by taking reversing course after sharing his support for the controversial spy bill, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The U.S. House of Representatives, on early Friday, April 17, passed a bill extending a law on government spy powers for two weeks. This happened after Republicans demanded an extension of five years, which was rejected.
Members of the House voted unanimously to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until April 30. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers to extend the law that enables American intelligence agencies to monitor foreign individuals abroad using data from U.S. digital systems prior to the expiration of the authorization.
Trump's decision to urge Republican lawmakers to extend the law has highlighted his reversal as he had earlier demanded that the bill be killed, reported The Mirror US. He had opposed the bill earlier that would provide a temporary extension to a surveillance program used by U.S. intelligence agencies.
Trump first said that the spy bill was was used against him.
'Kill Fisa, it was illegally used against me'
Trump had earlier asked for the bill to be killed, citing that it was used illegally against him. He said, "KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!! DJT.”
Trump also highlighted that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, one of several measures passed after the September 11, 2001, attacks, is crucial for the U.S. military. He urged Republicans to unite, calling for its extension.
Taking to Truth Social, the President wrote, “I am working very hard with our Great Speaker, Mike Johnson, along with Chairman Jim Jordan and Chairman Rick Crawford, to get a clean extension of FISA 702 through the House of Representatives this week. I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor. We need to stick together when this Bill comes before the House Rules Committee today to keep it CLEAN!”
He also claimed that he was “a victim", saying, "I was a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation’s History, by Radical Left Lunatics, who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton.”
X user calls out Trump for his MAGA betrayal over FISA.
The House reached a unanimous agreement to extend Section 702
According to the Wall Street Journal, the House reached a unanimous agreement to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act until April 30. This came after GOP hardliners tried to sabotage the efforts to approve five-year and 18-month extensions.
Talking in favor of the extension, Trump further said, "While parts of FISA were illegally and unfortunately used against me in the Democrats’ disgraceful Witch Hunt and Attack in the RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA Hoax, and perhaps would be used against me in the future, I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country!"
The bill will now go to the Senate, which already has a deadline before the program expires on Monday. By Friday morning, the majority of senators had left for Washington for the weekend.
After the vote series, House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to reporters and said, "We were very close tonight. There’s some nuances with the language, and some questions need to be answered, and we’ll get it done. The extension allows us the time to do that."