Conservatives scored a victory in the House yesterday when 19 Republicans joined Democrats in stopping Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s FISA reauthorization. But some are concerned that a clean reauthorization may now pass, eliminating the warrant requirement altogether.
Charlie Kirk posted the names of the 19 Republicans who voted against it. But Congressman Thomas Massie noted that in doing so, they also prevented a vote on the warrant requirement to spy on Americans.
It’s more complicated than that Charlie. Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, and Adam Schiff voted the same way as well.
This group also stopped a vote on requiring the government to get a warrant.
It’s more complicated than that Charlie. Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, and Adam Schiff voted the same way as well.
This group also stopped a vote on requiring the government to get a warrant.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 11, 2024
According to Nicholas Ballasy from Just The News, Speaker Johnson may now push forward a clean reauthorization bill:
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., could now turn to a clean Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act extension bill after a reauthorization bill with a bipartisan warrant requirement amendment failed to advance in the GOP-led House on Wednesday.
A clean bill could allow for warrantless surveillance of American citizens for another five years. If Speaker Johnson were to push it or allow a vote if the Senate were to pass their own, it would likely pass in the House with a combination of centrist Republicans and Democrats supporting it.
President Trump has called for FISA to be “killed” altogether, having been a victim of its use during and after the 2016 presidential election. Speaker Johnson noted that the amendments that were blocked Wednesday would have prevented the spying done on Trump and his campaign.
“I look forward to talking with him about it. Here’s the thing about FISA, he’s not wrong, of course, they abused FISA,” Johnson said, referring to the launch of the Russia collusion probe. “These reforms would actually kill the abuses that allowed President Trump’s campaign to be spied on.”
Despite taking the defeat, it seems unlikely Speaker Johnson would allow for a clean reauthorization bill. It would be political suicide, aligning him with his RINO predecessors in Republican House leadership. But if it’s a choice between a clean bill and allowing FISA to expire later this month, Speaker Johnson may feel like he has no other choice.
Senator Mike Lee doesn’t seem worried.
Don’t fall for the hyperbole.
The sky is not about to fall.
We must not allow for a “clean”reauthorization of FISA 702.
We must continue to fight until we can attach a warrant requirement to FISA 702.
Get a warrant!
Don’t fall for the hyperbole.
The sky is not about to fall.
We must not allow for a “clean”reauthorization of FISA 702.
We must continue to fight until we can attach a warrant requirement to FISA 702.
Get a warrant! https://t.co/Hs0hLTAZDg
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 10, 2024
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
