Speaker Mike Johnson unloaded on several GOP representatives on the House floor on Wednesday in a tirade described as high-pitched by one.
Johnson took issue with Reps. Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna, admonishing them for not voting to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Section 702 of FISA—which is causing contention among Republicans in the House—gives U.S. authorities the ability to collect data, including emails, text messages, and phone calls, belonging to noncitizens who are not on U.S. soil without a warrant. The three are opposing its approval.
Johnson yelled at Florida MAGA Rep. Anna Paulina Luna on Wednesday, telling the congresswoman that she would be responsible for “thousands of American deaths” if she did not vote to reauthorize the bill, Axios reported on Thursday.
“I was getting a spanking on the floor,” Luna told Axios. The Daily Beast has contacted Luna’s office for comment.
Johnson also reportedly yelled at Boebert and Burchett for their opposition, with lawmakers describing the speaker as being “visibly frustrated and upset.”
Burchett said that Johnson was speaking at a “high pitch,” adding, “He’s upset. I mean, they got him going every which direction.” Rep. Ralph Norman told the outlet that Johnson “was upset, just frustrated” during the exchange.
Boebert is yet to comment on the smackdown.
The Daily Beast has contacted representatives for Johnson, Boebert and Burchett for comment. Johnson’s office declined to comment when contacted by Axios.
Last week, the Republican Party punted the bill to reauthorize FISA to mid-April, after the House returns from its two-week recess. The bill is currently set to lapse on April 20. The White House, led by Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, has been pushing to extend the act through 2027 without changes.
FISA currently allows the U.S. to collect the data of noncitizens abroad without a warrant, including messages even if they’re communicating with Americans. Conservative critics of the bill are demanding that officials obtain a warrant before searching Americans’ data collected in the database.
Johnson has argued that this would make the bill “unworkable.”
Johnson has maintained that FISA is a vital national security tool, telling reporters on Wednesday that “roughly 65 percent of the president’s daily security briefing comes from collection out of Section 702 of FISA.”
“It’s a very important tool to keep Americans safe, and it’s not something to play around with,” he added.
Luna told Axios that her position—that she will not vote to reauthorize FISA unless it is attached to the SAVE America Act that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship—has not changed.
“They already told me that if it doesn’t pass, I’m going to be responsible for thousands of Americans dying, which I would actually say, if Senate Democrats and Leader Thune doesn’t pass FISA with voter ID, then they’re responsible, not me,” Luna told the outlet.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford told Politico earlier this month, “Obviously the White House has vested interest in retaining 702 authority. It’s a national security issue. So, you know, it’s very important to them.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the Judiciary Committee who had expressed concerns about the lack of guardrails on Section 702, reportedly spoke with Crawford about a potential compromise.
“We know 702 is important,” Jordan told Politico. “We know it needs to get reauthorized. We’re committed to getting that done.”
“We just want to do it in the best way possible so that you can get the bad guys, know what the bad guys are doing overseas, but also protect Americans,” he continued.
“I’m confident we’ll get there.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct conservative criticisms of the bill.
