Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), one of the leaders behind the fight to reform a deep state surveillance law, on Friday said Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) strategy was more “appeasement” than leadership.
The House on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a controversial surveillance law that will now expire in April but may extend to even 2025.
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Conservatives and progressives’ fight to reform Section 702 was often frustrated by Johnson’s flip-flopping on his decision to include a short-term extension in the NDAA.
Now, when Congress returns after the holidays, Johnson will have to resolve the many issues surrounding a border-Ukraine fight, solving Section 702, and how to fund the government long-term.
Biggs, who sponsored the House Judiciary Committee-advanced Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, said Johnson’s strategy for Section 702 was more “appeasement” than leadership.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) speaks at a press conference on the debt limit and the Freedom Caucus’s plan for spending reduction at the U.S. Capitol on March 28, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“When you try to please both [sides], you never please anybody. Maybe that’s just his personality? I don’t know. My thought was always we could shore him up, but I’m not so sure,” he explained to Politico.
Although conservatives remain far away from moving to oust the Louisiana Speaker, they may soon make trouble for him if he does not soon start making hard calls.
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Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), a senior appropriations committee member, when asked if Johnson should take a more “hands-on” approach, replied, “Yesterday.”
He continued, “He’s trying to satisfy all of our conference, which I don’t know that he can. But I think he’s trying to do that. He’s listened to everybody. But you gotta remember this is the first time he’s been in this role, not even as an assistant majority leader, so it’s like drinking from Niagara Falls.”
The Texas conservative argues that, during the surveillance fight, he has told both sides to “sort this out” or he would simply choose a solution.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.