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WASHINGTON — Congress passed its annual defense spending bill with divided support from Utah's congressional delegation, with those who opposed the bill saying they couldn't support a "clean" extension of a government surveillance program.
A compromise version of the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed the Senate Wednesday night and the House Thursday morning with bipartisan support despite disagreement over "culture war" provisions and the last-minute inclusion of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which enables warrantless wiretapping of foreign individuals but has also been used to spy on American citizens.
The defense bill, which authorizes the largest pay raise for service members in two decades, will now head to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
Utah's six Republican members of Congress had varying responses, with those who voted in favor — Sen. Mitt Romney, Rep. Blake Moore and Rep. Celeste Maloy — emphasizing the importance of fully funding the country's military, and those who voted against — Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. John Curtis and Rep. Burgess Owens — pointing to specific controversial passages.
Why did Lee vote against the defense bill?
Lee was a leading voice of opposition to the bill in the Senate, where he supported a procedural move by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Tuesday to remove FISA reauthorization from the bill. Paul's "point of order" claimed the decision by leadership to embed a four-month renewal of Section 702 in the 3,000-page defense bill violated chamber rules because the government surveillance tool was not included in either the House or Senate versions prior to the bicameral conference.
The last-ditch effort to remove the FISA provisions was overridden in a 65-35 vote Tuesday night, followed by an 87-13 vote to pass the defense bill.
"Unfortunately, too many of our colleagues trusted the deep state, and the new National Defense Authorization allows federal agencies to continue illegally spying on Americans — for now," Lee said. "We will have the opportunity to fight this battle again in 2024, and FISA reform will happen if enough of our countrymen demand it."
Lee has actively weighed in on what FISA reforms are necessary to bring the 15-year-old anti-terrorism law into alignment with the Constitution. He introduced a bill last month prohibiting warrantless "backdoor searches" of American communications that are swept up in FISA surveillance of foreign nationals and he has endorsed similar legislation in the House.
In recent days, Lee has taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to voice worries that if an amended version of FISA 702 is not passed before its reapproval by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in April, then surveillance policies will remain unchanged for one year regardless of any new legislation that is passed.
The inclusion of FISA 702 in the annual defense spending bill was also the sticking point cited by Curtis, who represents Utah's 3rd Congressional District, and Owens, who represents Utah's 4th Congressional District.
"While I wanted to support this NDAA, and generally find it a positive product, I cannot in good conscience support a FISA extension until it includes reforms to prevent the warrantless surveillance of American citizens," Curtis said in a statement. "I have historically supported the NDAA and think it is critical to ensure our military, at Hill Air Force Base, the National Guard, and beyond, have the tools to combat foreign adversaries and keep Americans safe. The House has been working diligently on bipartisan FISA reforms that should have been considered in this NDAA, and I regret Congress is missing this opportunity for important reforms."
Earlier this year, it was reported that the FISA 702 database had been misused over 250,000 times by the FBI and NSA to search through the electronic communications of U.S. citizens, including criminal suspects in the Jan. 6 Capitol and George Floyd riots. Directors of agencies such as the FBI have claimed in congressional hearings that they have implemented policies to minimize the invasion of Americans' privacy but legislative efforts to limit the authority of FISA have generally received bipartisan support.
"Time and again, the Biden administration has abused Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Act, eroding American civil liberties. From labeling parents as terrorists to conducting hundreds of thousands of warrantless 'backdoor' searches into Americans' private communications, the White House continues to violate the fundamental rights enshrined in our founding documents," Owens said in a statement. "Although the National Defense Authorization (NDAA) Act of 2024 includes priorities I have long championed as a member of Congress, it lacks the much-needed reform for Section 702 of FISA to rein in Biden's abuse of power."
Why did Romney vote for the defense bill?
Also included in the defense spending bill is a 5.2% increase in pay for military personnel, investments in the defense industrial base and authorizations for China-deterrence programs, including support for Taiwan and a U.S.-U.K.-Australian security agreement.
"With the growing threats we face, it is paramount that our military has the resources, equipment, and capabilities it needs to keep our nation safe," Romney said in a statement. "This bipartisan and bicameral legislation strengthens our national security and supports our service members at this critical time."
Some of Romney's own measures were advanced in the defense authorization act, including a bill prohibiting the classification of China as a "developing nation" in future treaties.
Moore, whose 1st Congressional District covers Hill Air Force Base, said Utah is directly benefitted by the NDAA.
"Today I voted for the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act for the hardworking men and women at Hill Air Force Base," Moore said in a statement. "This legislation includes massive wins for Hill and our armed forces at large to ensure they have the resources they need to protect our homeland and national security interests, and I will continue to collaborate with Utah's servicemembers on ways we can best support their mission."
Utah's newest member of Congress, Maloy, has only been in office a few weeks since winning a special election to replace Chris Stewart, who was a national security juggernaut with his background in the Air Force and his position on the powerful House intelligence committee.
In a statement on Thursday, Maloy said her "yes" vote reflected her national defense priorities while adding that she shared the concerns of her colleagues who voted against the bill.
"Passing the NDAA is essential for America's national defense. Additionally, this bill includes key conservative wins such as increasing pay for our military members and keeping our military focused on combat readiness instead of policies like critical race theory," Maloy said. "FISA is an outstanding issue that needs to be addressed, and we have commitments from House and Senate leadership that we will reform FISA early next year before the authorization expires."
The NDAA also faced procedural roadblocks in the House from lawmakers that were frustrated over the exclusion of hot-button social issues in the final conference report. The House version of the bill had included prohibitions on military funding for abortion-related travel, drag shows and transgender medical care. None of these provisions made it into the final version of the bill.
