Rep. Jim Jordan Opposes Any Deep State Surveillance Authorization in Defense Bill

Representative Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US,
Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) opposes any extension of a deep state surveillance law in the upcoming defense bill, temporary or otherwise.

As Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other members of the congressional leadership continue to mull putting Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a deep state surveillance long criticized by conservatives and progressives alike, Jordan, one of the principal leaders on the fight to reform the law, opposes the bill.

Sources familiar say that Jordan, who has long fought to reform the law, opposes the proposed move to include a temporary extension of Section 702 in the defense bill.

As the heartland conservative told Breitbart News in an interview this June, his “number one goal” this year is to stop a blanket authorization of Section 702.

WATCH: Jim Jordan — There are 204k Reasons to Oppose FISA Reauthorization

House Committee on the Judiciary / YouTube

Jordan and the Judiciary Committee will likely unveil their proposal to reform Section 702 of FISA as early as Friday.

Jordan’s opposition to the temporary extension comes after Breitbart News and other outlets have reported that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and congressional leadership may seek to include a short-term extension of FISA in the NDAA.

A short-term extension may rob conservatives, progressives, and other grassroots activists of a historic chance of reining in government overreach and abuse.

Over the last few years alone, there have been several instances that have exposed the government’s overreach with the Section 702 program.

The Ohio conservative in his argument against reauthorizing Section 702 cited a recently unsealed court document that found the FBI misused FISA over 300,000 times between 2020 and early 2021.

An FBI audit also found that the agency had “insufficient justification” for two FISA searches relating to “January 6th Capitol Violence.”

Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, revealed that he was the unnamed lawmaker who was surveilled by the FBI. The FBI said the surveillance was a defensive countermeasure to make sure the Illinois Republican was not the subject of a foreign influence operation:

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Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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