House Scraps Surveillance Bill Vote After Veto Threat From Trump

(Bloomberg) -- House Democrats withdrew a bill to restore federal surveillance authorities used in tracking of suspected terrorists and spies amid a veto threat from President Donald Trump and a solid wall of GOP opposition.

The lack of support is a blow to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who also faced opposition from progressive Democrats who argued that the surveillance measure didn’t do enough to protect Americans’ civil liberties.

“The two-thirds of the Republican party that voted for this bill in March have indicated they are going to vote against it now,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement Thursday. “I am told they are doing so at the request of the president. I believe this to be against the security interest of the United States and the safety of the American people.”

Pelosi called off a planned vote on the bill late Wednesday night after the House had already approved floor procedures for it, surprising many rank-and-file Democrats.

The measure would restore lapsed provisions allowing the government to collect business and other records of Americans if authorized by a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. It would let the government get so-called roving wiretaps targeting suspects who frequently change phone lines or use so-called burner devices. The provisions expired March 15.

Pelosi, in a letter Thursday to Democratic colleagues, said the House now will take its original version of the bill to a conference committee with the Senate.

“The administration – particularly some in the Justice Department – would like nothing better than to not have a bill,” Pelosi said. “Without a bill, there would be none of the bill’s important protections for civil liberties.”

The House had passed the original the bill in March on a 278-136 vote, including support from 126 Republicans.

The Senate followed with an 80-16 vote earlier this month, after adding an amendment that would bolster legal protection for targets of government surveillance and require federal authorities to provide exculpatory evidence to the FISA court when seeking a warrant.

The Justice Department, which had negotiated the original bill with lawmakers, objected to the Senate amendment.

The measure had appeared to be headed toward bipartisan approval until Trump on Tuesday night urged all Republican representatives on Twitter to vote against it, saying the nation needed to determin “how and why the greatest political, criminal, and subversive scandal in USA history took place!”

The president has repeatedly accused members of the Justice Department and the FBI of misconduct in the alleged misuse of FISA to spy on his 2016 presidential campaign.

In a follow-up Thursday morning, after the measure was withdrawn, Trump applauded the opposition by the GOP.

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