Jim Jordan reverses long-held position on spy powers, says he will back Trump extension of FISA 702

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said he plans to support a clean extension of the nation’s warrantless surveillance powers, a reversal after he voted against the bill when it last came before Congress. Jordan in 2024 voted against reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after the House declined to add a measure he pushed for that would require intelligence officers to get a warrant before reviewing any information inadvertently collected on Americans. But on Wednesday he said everything from reforms to how the spy tool can be used to the conflict with Iran contributed to his shift in position, couching the 18-month renewal as “short-term.” Jordan is not alone in his reversal. While President Trump in 2024 called on lawmakers to “KILL FISA,” the president has now relayed to lawmakers that he would like to see the spy powers renewed for another 18 months without any changes. “I’m for it,” Jordan said in an interview with The Hill. “It’s a whole different context today — 2026, not 2024. And you know, we got something like 56 reforms in the legislation last year, and they’ve made a huge difference. … I think it’s a completely different framework.” Referencing the war in Iran, he added, “It’s just the reality of the situation today, that with all this going on, short term — after the reforms that we put in place — I don’t think it’s a problem.” The news is a major reversal for Jordan, who previously was a champion for a warrant requirement, saying it was the only way he would vote to renew the spy powers. He’s frequently railed against the program, arguing it was too easily abused and risked surveillance of everyday Americans. One lawmaker told The Hill that as recently as this year Jordan was lobbying members of both parties to vote down reauthorization. Section 702 only allows the government to spy on foreigners who are located overseas, but that surveillance can sweep up the communications of Americans who are speaking with any targets. It is set to expire on April 20 without intervention from Congress. Speaking with The Hill, Jordan said he was encouraged by the reforms made to FISA 702 at its last renewal, shrinking the total pool of people who can even run queries under the program as well as more audits of searching, including the power for certain lawmakers to be involved in FISA proceedings. Jordan acknowledged Trump had pushed the issue. “We talked to the president. We talked to him on this issue and a host of other issues. The president indicated that he wanted a temporary reauthorization, and in light of the facts and the changes and reforms we made, and the fact that we’re still working with Intel and Judiciary — we have a great working relationship the two committees — working on some reforms, we got no problem extending for 18 months short term extension,” he said. One lawmaker said the shift is all the more shocking given how recently Jordan was lobbying his fellow House Judiciary members to kill the bill. “Chairman Jordan had been lobbying both Republican and Democratic colleagues about opposing reauthorization this year,” the lawmaker said, surmising that the White House was an influence. “The White House has been aggressively lobbying Chairman Jordan and members of the Judiciary Committee.” Jordan denied that he lobbied against renewal this year. “I’ve never lobbied people to vote against it,” Jordan said, though he has voted against it in the past. “702 is an important program. …We’ve just wanted reforms over the years, and we’ve gotten those reforms, and it’s made a huge difference,” Jordan said. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has also championed a warrant requirement, said prior to Jordan’s statement that any reversal on the chairs’ part would undercut the effort to fight FISA renewal. “I think what happens here is that [Trump’s] probably convinced the chairman of my committee not to fight, and if the chairman’s not fighting, there’s no fight,” he said. Jordan has previously been sharply critical of FISA, frequently mentioning the topic at the start of hearings. He routinely mentions a 2023 government report that found the government misused the tool 278,000 times. “No one has done more oversight of the FISA program than I have over the last 10 years,” Jordan said when told of Massie’s comments. The figures that alarmed Jordan have dropped substantially since a shift in the FBI search portal that had opted agents into searching the 702 database. By doing so the number of searches impacting Americans plummeted from 2.9 million in 2022 to just over 9,000 in the year after the last renewal of Section 702. Of those searches, 127 were found to not be compliant with FBI guidelines. Still, in April of last year, Jordan wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post criticizing the spy program, warning against renewing it this year. “One year from now, Republicans and Democrats in Congress will have a chance to reaffirm our commitment to the Constitution and better protect Americans from warrantless government surveillance,” he wrote. “We tried a year ago and came up just short,” he added, noting his warrant requirement amendment was not adopted. “We have one more chance to stand up for our basic constitutional rights. Under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, the federal government generally isn’t allowed to obtain your communications without a warrant. But there are some caveats — and Section 702 is a big one.” While the 2024 renewal of FISA did impose some new guardrails, “until we pass a warrant requirement, the government’s powerful surveillance authorities will always be subject to abuse,” Jordan argued. Jordan didn’t make clear how he will vote when Section 702 comes up again in the future and whether he would again push for a warrant requirement. “There’s still some things that we think in the future we may want to work on,” he said. “We’ll know more in 18 months, but we’ll also have more data to make those decisions and find out. Do we need to do more?”