Jeffries says he’s ‘deeply skeptical’ of FISA extension without new privacy protections

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested on Thursday that he’s ready to oppose an extension of the government’s warrantless surveillance powers unless it contains new privacy guardrails. 

Jeffries stopped short of saying he’ll oppose a clean extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which GOP leaders in Congress and the White House are scrambling to pass before the spying powers expire on April 20.

But he also hinted strongly that he won’t support the bill without new protections for Americans that are being demanded by privacy advocates on and off of Capitol Hill. 

“I am deeply skeptical of a straight-forward extension, for a wide variety of reasons,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. He added that “a significant majority” of House Democrats share that skepticism. 

The comments came amid an impasse over how to prevent the FISA powers from expiring next Monday. President Trump is demanding a clean, 18-month extension, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team ran into a........

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