‘Hell Week’: House Has to Grapple with FISA, ICE Funding, and Farm Bill

The House has to grapple with a number of tasks, including the reauthorization of FISA, funding ICE and Border Patrol, passing a farm bill, and potentially even find a way to fund the White House ballroom renovation.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) said this week “is going to be hell week,” referring to the House’s need to pass a bill reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the need to pass a “skinny” reconciliation bill that would fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and the Border Patrol, and pass a Farm bill to reauthorize agricultural programs.

“Mike Johnson has a very difficult job. He has the second toughest job in the world … The Lord Jesus couldn’t lead this delegation,” Nehls said about the challenging role Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has as he leads the tiny majority in the House.

House conservatives continue to fight a clean reauthorization of Section 702, a key surveillance authority, believing that the program should be reformed to require a warrant to search Americans’ private communications and a warrant requirement for law enforcement and federal agencies before purchasing Americans’ private data. House GOP leadership believes that they can pass the bill, although it may require Democrat votes to overcome the conservative opposition to clean reauthorization.

The House also has to grapple with passing the Senate-passed budget resolution that would seek to fund parts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), such as ICE and the Border Patrol. Many House Republicans do not believe that there would be a third reconciliation bill that would fund other GOP priorities.

“We don’t trust the two step process. I just will be honest with you, because the two step process has the separation in it. That’s a sticking point,” Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) said.

Congress may also handle the fallout of the attempted shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

President Donald Trump said in the aftermath of the shooting that a White House ballroom is needed for security reasons.

“We looked at all of the conditions that took place tonight, and I will say, it’s not a particularly secure building,” Trump said on Saturday, referring to the Washington Hiltion, where the dinner was being held. “I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House.”