House Republicans are heading into a chaotic two-week sprint to try and make real legislative headway before a subsequent two-week recess — and prove that their narrow and deeply fractious majority can still get something done.
Hard-liners are already signaling this exercise won’t be easy. Here are the revolts to watch in the next two weeks:
— First, there’s FISA: Republican leaders want to pass a straightforward extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, next week, to give the Senate enough time to reauthorize the key spy authority before the April 20 deadline. The White House supports this path forward.
But conservatives want to add additional privacy guardrails to the existing law that allows the government to collect the data of noncitizens without a warrant.
Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican on party-line procedural votes without grinding floor operations to a halt. At least two of his members, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Keith Self of Texas, aren’t ruling out opposing a “clean” FISA bill.
“We’ve got several must-pass bills, all of which need amending,” Self told POLITICO. “And FISA is one of them.”
— Housing challenges: Hard-liners are also posing problems for the GOP’s ability to respond to voter concerns about higher costs of living as the midterms approach. Many are refusing to advance a Senate-passed affordable housing package because it doesn’t contain key policies they fought for on their side of the Capitol, such as a permanent ban on a central bank digital currency.
Now these holdouts want a bicameral conference to negotiate changes and strip out “socialist” provisions secured by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — an unrealistic demand that would serve as a de facto death knell for the entire effort.
“I don’t have anything to add to what’s been discussed already,” House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) told POLITICO on Monday when asked about the status of talks.
— The “SAVE” revolt: Hanging over all these quagmires are threats from some hard-line Republicans to oppose any Senate-passed bill, for any reason, until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act — the GOP’s partisan elections package that stands little chance of becoming law (more on this below).
“I don’t care what the bill is,” Luna told POLITICO. “If they can’t do their job, they can’t pass bills.”
She plans to start her blockade Tuesday by voting against a Senate-backed measure on the House floor that would extend the Small Business Innovation Research program.
What else we’re watching:
— “SAVE” debate begins: The Senate is set Tuesday to launch a dayslong debate over the SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump calls his “No. 1 priority.” But don’t expect a “talking filibuster” that some conservatives hope would force Democrats to relent to a simple majority final passage despite their unified opposition. Instead, Republicans will start with a vote to begin consideration of the House-passed bill that would institute new citizenship and photo ID requirements in order to participate in elections.
— Friends of Ireland on the Hill: The speaker will host Trump and Taoiseach Micheál Martin for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon at noon.
— AIPAC on the ballot: Tuesday’s primary elections in Illinois will serve as a critical test of whether the historically powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee still has clout.
Jordain Carney, Meredith Lee Hill, Elena Schneider and Shia Kapos contributed to this report.
