House Republicans who voted down FISA rule shut down worries of censure: ‘Go ahead’

House Republicans are brushing off concerns that they will be censured for voting down a rule that would bring the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to the floor, with a few taunting, “Go ahead.” 

On Wednesday, 19 Republicans voted with Democrats to effectively kill the House’s attempts to move a bill forward that would renew Section 702 of FISA, an important foreign surveillance tool that has driven wedges within the Republican conference over whether there should be warrant requirements when involving the data of U.S. citizens.

The 19 Republicans were Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA) Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Cory Mills (R-FL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Scott Perry (R-PA), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Greg Steube (R-FL). 

Following the tanking of the procedural rule, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) suggested “severe sanctions” for members who are going against the majority on advancing a rule, a procedural move that typically is voted along party lines and rarely fails on the House floor. In recent months, however, some House Republicans have weaponized the procedure to stall legislation that they do not agree with.

“Those are not individual decisions; they are decisions that are made collectively by the majority … and implemented by the majority, acting as a majority,” McClintock told reporters on Wednesday. “That’s what’s collapsed in the House, and that’s what needs to be fixed.”

However, some of the 19 House Republicans rebuffed or laughed at the idea of censures.

“What, I’m going to be censured because I wanted amendments? I wanted debate,” Burchett said to the Washington Examiner. “I wanted fairness — even with people I don’t agree with, I wanted them to be able to have a say.”

“I don’t know about you, but back in Tennessee, we call that democracy. Well, and please accuse me of being a proponent of democracy,” Burchett added.

Mills echoed Burchett, saying he would “love” for a censure to be filed against him.

“Go ahead and try to censure us or expel us for protecting American privacy,” Mills said. “Yeah, let’s see how that goes over the American people.”

Some of the 19 House Republicans who voted against the rule on Wednesday are warming to the idea of another rule vote now that the new FISA bill text includes a two-year sunset on reauthorization, which currently sits at five years. Another appeasement came in the form of a stand-alone vote on Rep. Warren Davidson’s (R-OH) bill, the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act.

It remains unclear whether the early sunset and amendment vote provisions are enough to appease the holdouts. Some GOP members are adamant about including warrant requirements in FISA, and the absence of such requirements may cause them to tank the procedural rule yet again.

However, some members, including Biggs, Luna, and Gaetz, say the changes are enough to flip their votes. The Rules Committee is expected to meet late Thursday night, with a vote on another procedural rule for FISA expected as early as Friday morning. 

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Biggs said, “Have at it” when asked how he felt about sanctions.

“I’ve always believed that we should just censure everybody and then start over with a clean slate,” Biggs said.