After the Republican Party struggled to find common ground on reform proposals, the House and Senate passed a bill on Friday, the 17th, to extend the government's surveillance authority under FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) by 10 days.

The House passed a bill to extend Section 702 of FISA, which is controversial, in the middle of the night, facing strong opposition from a faction of Republican lawmakers who want to amend the law to include a warrant requirement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to push for a vote on a bill to extend the White House-backed federal government's foreign surveillance authority for 18 months on Thursday afternoon. However, after multiple votes, some Republican House members, along with Democrats, blocked the extension.

In the early hours of Friday morning, Republicans agreed to further shorten the deadline for Section 702 to 10 days. The Senate is scheduled to review this temporary bill on Friday and is rushing to pass it before its expiration.

President Donald Trump urged House Republicans to pass an extension of the authority to monitor communications of foreigners abroad, particularly those in Iran, arguing that such powers are more necessary than ever amid tensions with Iran.

House Republicans opposing the FISA extension want to impose new warrant requirements on Section 702 surveillance to reduce potential abuses against American citizens. Trump has previously criticized FISA for alleged abuses during the baseless investigation into collusion with Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign, before he was re-elected.

In a post on Truth Social on the 14th, President Trump stated, "I was the victim of the worst, most illegal FISA abuse in American history. The radical left fanatics lied to the FISA Court to spy on the 2016 Presidential Campaign and tried to rig the election in favor of the dishonest Hillary Clinton. Their abuse of the law in the 2020 Election was even more villainous!"

However, he explained, "When the corrupt police James Comey, the failed former Director of the FBI, was after me, he used Section 1 of FISA which deals with domestic intelligence gathering, not Section 702 of FISA, which deals with foreign intelligence gathering and should be extended today. Although some provisions of FISA were illegally used against me in the Democrats' shameful witch hunt and 'Russia, Russia, Russia' hoax, and will likely be used again, I am willing as a citizen to take that risk to do the right thing for my Country."

President Trump added, "Regardless of my feelings about FISA, the law is extremely important for our Military. I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they believe FISA is essential."

By Hong Seong-gu, Chief Reporter of NNP USA / Special Correspondent for this publication NNP info@newsandpost.com