Earlier this afternoon, the House of Representatives voted to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, in a 273-147 vote. Section 702 allows American intelligence agencies to collect electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside the country without a warrant. It was backed by the White House and leadership in both parties as a crucial national-security measure to protect American citizens from foreign threats, but is ultimately a greater threat to American citizens’ privacy.
An amendment filed to protect Americans’ data privacy would have required a warrant to view data from American citizens, but it failed in a 212-212 vote.
Even though the Progressive Caucus officially backed the amendment, a surprising number of progressive House members voted against the amendment to protect American citizens’ privacy, including Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Joe Neguse (D-CO). Notably, Rep. Adam Schiff voted against the amendment, while his former primary challenger in the California Senate race earlier this year, Rep. Katie Porter, voted in favor of it.
David Dayen and Luke Goldstein discuss what it means for the farthest-reaching violation of civil liberties since the Patriot Act to pass so definitively in a gridlocked Congress, and why it matters that so many Democrats—many who had been primaried by the left this year—voted in favor of warrantless spying. As David notes, the vote, which could have gone differently if even one member of Congress made different choices, shows us that not all Democrats are created equal. Policy differences matter, and primary elections make a real difference.
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