Democrat Pushes GOP Leadership To Renew Warrantless Spying Before His Party Takes Power

House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes pushed Senate Republican leadership Tuesday to reauthorize a warrantless spying tool before Democrats take the majority.

Himes, a Democrat from Connecticut, told Politico he spoke to Senate Majority Leader John Thune about reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the government to collect and search American citizens’ data without a warrant if they were in contact with targeted noncitizens. Democrats blocked the reauthorization of Section 702 over the summer and have since remained split on its passage.

“My preference would be, let’s just take the win that’s on the table, get it done in the lame-duck,” Himes said. “If that fails, we’ll do something in the first quarter.”

Section 702 lapsed on June 12 after Democrats voted against its reauthorization. The Democrats’ vote was in retaliation against Federal Housing Director Bill Pulte’s temporary appointment as director of national intelligence before the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton.

Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Josh Hawley of Missouri and four other Senate Republicans voted against its reauthorization during a June 5 vote. Lee argued that a warrant must be added before the government spies on Americans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told the Daily Caller News Foundation in July that they would not support reauthorizing Section 702 when Clayton took power. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner and Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told Politico they supported the renewal without a warrant.