(PatriotPostNews.com) – The ongoing tension between Republicans in the House of Representatives was renewed on April 10, following a standstill on getting a controversial surveillance bill to a vote.
In a busy week full of reversals and turnarounds, the Republican-controlled House finally voted to reauthorize the controversial law on Friday, April 12.
The legislation at hand was a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the federal government to obtain information without a warrant about non-citizens abroad who pose a potential threat. However, some are arguing that the legislation has been and will continue to be misused to spy on American citizens.
Wednesday’s standstill was the latest of several maneuvers in which typical party-line procedural votes have been thwarted by a group of GOP hardliners. On that day, 19 Republican representatives, most of them members of the Freedom Caucus, sided with Democrats to block the procedural vote from taking place.
They were seeking more restrictions to the bill that would protect the privacy of American citizens instead of leaving them subjected to potential warrantless searches of private communication with foreign nationals. The blocking of the measure came shortly after former president and leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump called for Congress to “kill” the legislation, citing how it was used against him during campaigns.
The division among House Republicans has been described as “dysfunction” by Texas Rep. Troy Nehls, who voted in favor of the bill. He added that his party in the House has barely been able to “really” achieve much due to the internal chaos. And Nehls is not the only Republican with such sentiments.
Speaking to Axios, Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke further described the division as “frustrating” and “moronic,” while his fellow representative from California, Mike Garcia, added that he does not “appreciate” what he said is not “great tactics” from the party. Additionally, Texas Rep. Michael McCaul emphasized that he has only ever seen this type of division on procedural measures this year, which is the 10th time he has served in Congress.
McCaul added that legislators “have to govern,” noting that when he first entered office, “there [were] consequences” if lawmakers “vote[d] against the rule.”
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