Oddbean

Passed Senate, it goes to the House: Quote Senator Mike Lee of Utah: The Senate just voted to waive the point of order against the NDAA. 35 of us opposed the motion to waive. We needed only 41 to prevent this outcome, and to remove FISA 702 from the NDAA. This is not good. </end quote> Select Quotes from The Hill by Brad Dress: Vote to approve the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was 87-13 $11.5 billion slated to deter China in the Indo-Pacific region and another $800 million to support Ukraine They are also upset about a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad but is controversial because Americans can get swept up in the surveillance. Some senators took to the Senate floor to protest the FISA extension, including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). Ahead of the NDAA vote, an effort to remove the FISA Section 702 extension from the bill was defeated in a 35-65 vote. In remarks, Paul accused senators of trying to “rubber stamp this and look the other way” to allow FISA to continue without any reforms. Lee said the American people deserve freedom from “warrantless searches.” “The American people aren’t going to take this anymore,” he said. “The American people expect more, and the Constitution demands it.”