Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are remaining tight-lipped about whether they will provide the decisive votes to pass a Trump-backed bill reauthorizing a warrantless surveillance law exploited by federal police to spy on Black Lives Matter and other activists. The silence comes even as Democratic leadership and other congressional minority groups have pledged to oppose reauthorization without reform.
A House vote on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) could come as soon as this week, before the existing law is set to expire on April 20. This Monday, the American Prospect reported that Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), a leading legislator on foreign affairs, successfully lobbied the CBC leadership not to support FISA reform efforts. The Lever has since spoken to an anonymous congressional source backing the Prospect’s account.
But in a statement to the Lever last night, Meeks denied the reporting as “inaccurate.”
“I support FISA reauthorization, but the only vote I’ve been whipping is my War Powers Resolution to end the war in Iran,” Meeks said. “Whip operations are traditionally conducted by the Ranking Member of the committee that has jurisdiction over the legislation being considered. Any claim that I’m whipping the CBC on FISA is false.”
The battle on Capitol Hill revolves around post-9/11 changes to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which have empowered the FBI to conduct extensive warrantless surveillance since 2008. The provision responsible, Section 702, has been vastly overused: according to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court created under FISA, federal law enforcement misapplied Section 702 nearly 300,000 times between 2016 and 2020 — including for searches of American citizens.
Section 702 has given federal law enforcement warrantless access to the communications of protesters, journalists, and a judge, among others. That includes 133 individuals arrested in connection…
Auteur: Veronica Riccobene
