Speaker Johnson outlines FISA overhaul to reel in skittish GOP troops

House Speaker Mike Johnson is circulating a fact sheet demonstrating how changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would prevent another Russia hoax, hoping to cajole GOP troops who are thwarting efforts to reauthorize the government’s chief spying tool.

Former President Donald Trump is urging GOP allies to reject the FISA bill, complicating the speaker’s mission, so Mr. Johnson outlined ways they can fix the very abuses the former president warned about.

The speaker’s document says intelligence officers would no longer be able to rely on political opposition research to get spying orders from the courts. And they would have to validate the facts behind a FISA application under oath. 

Both measures seek to avoid a repeat of missteps that led to FISA-authorized monitoring of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and debunked ties to Russia.

Mr. Johnson’s reforms also criminalize the leaking of a FISA application with up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The speaker is outlining an overhaul as a revolt by Republicans threatens to derail FISA’s Section 702, which lets the government intercept texts, phone calls and emails of foreigners abroad and even scoop up Americans’ data.

The section will expire on April 19 if Congress doesn’t act. Efforts to reauthorize the program were complicated by Mr. Trump’s assertion on Truth Social that Congress should “KILL FISA” because it was wielded against his 2016 campaign.

Nineteen Republicans derailed the reauthorization in a procedural vote Wednesday, so Mr. Johnson trimmed the reauthorization period from five to two years. He also allowed for an amendment vote to add a warrant requirement to FBI searches for Americans’ data in the FISA database.

Mr. Johnson hopes for a better outcome during a Friday vote, and the fact sheet is part of last-minute lobbying.

Some of the changes are general in scope, such as cutting the number of people who can leverage Section 702 to make inquiries into Americans. Political appointees would be barred from approving spying queries.

Also, people who abuse spying powers would be reported to Congress.

• Alex Miller contributed to this report.