The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of April 13, 2026

Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 to create a process allowing the government to collect foreign intelligence on U.S. soil with court approval and congressional oversight. 

In 2008, Congress added Section 702 to FISA to enable the targeting of foreigners outside the U.S. who use U.S.-based services to communicate. This helps us surveil foreign spies and ensure we don’t relive the pre-9/11 failures to ‘connect the dots’ between terrorists plotting overseas and threats here at home.
 
FISA Section 702 is vital to our national security amid the rising threats we’re seeing from foreign adversaries like Iran, China, and drug cartels – however, due to previous abuses of FISA, the entire program required significant reforms before reauthorization. 

In 2024, Congress enacted legislation to reform Section 702 querying procedures at the FBI, limit the use of information obtained under Section 702, require greater oversight of Section 702 targeting decisions, reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), impose stronger criminal penalties for FISA violations, and hold leaders accountable for FISA abuses on their watch. In total, 56 reforms were called for in our legislation, and have already begun making a difference, as demonstrated by the FBI’s compliance rate of 99% in 2025.

Now, FISA Section 702 authority is set to expire again, putting our national security at risk from foreign threats at a time when threat levels are elevated. Under President Trump’s leadership, House Republicans are bringing forward a clean 18-month extension of Section 702 to keep our country safe while upholding the vital reforms we made in our last reauthorization. 

H.R. 8035, sponsored by Chairman Rick Crawford, amends the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of FISA through October 20, 2027, maintaining our national security while upholding reforms that ensure Americans' privacy and address Intelligence Community abuses.

House Republicans are working to ensure that our Intelligence Community has the tools they need to protect our nation from foreign threats while ensuring FISA is not abused against American citizens. 

States across America are being punished for emissions and pollution, man-made or natural, that originate from outside our borders, such as emissions from factories in China and Mexico and Canadian wildfires.

While the Clean Air Act (CAA) allows states to adjust their plans when foreign emissions affect their ability to meet federal standards, the Biden Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) guidance limited that relief to only human-caused emissions from abroad, excluding natural foreign emissions like wildfire smoke. 

Not only is it wrong to punish states for emissions outside of their control, but this kind of overly burdensome red tape can place unnecessary burdens on manufacturers and communities, delay important projects for years, and raise costs for Americans. 

American states and producers need fair and consistent air quality designations. This week, House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to restore the original intent of the law and prevent states from being penalized for natural and man-made emissions from foreign nations they have no control over.

Rep. August Pfluger’s legislation, H.R. 6409, the Foreign Emissions and Nonattainment Clarification for Economic Stability (FENCES) Act, amends the Clean Air Act to ensure that foreign natural or man-made emissions are not considered when determining states’ compliance with federal air quality standards, preventing U.S. states from facing penalties for emissions outside their control and allowing states to account for such emissions earlier in the regulatory process.

House Republicans are working to reform onerous permitting and remove unnecessary compliance burdens that stifle American growth while upholding environmental standards.

Currently, U.S. states can petition the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exclude emissions from “exceptional events” when evaluating states’ compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). These “exceptional events” include wildfires, high-wind dust events, volcanic or seismic activity, and chemical spills from disasters.

However, the EPA’s process for determining if certain emissions meet the criteria for “exceptional events” has become overly restrictive, lacking in clarity and consistency, and excludes a key category of emissions: prescribed burns. 

Prescribed burns are carefully-planned, intentional fires used by professionals to manage land, reduce wildfire risks, and bolster ecosystem health. Under current law, these prescribed burns are not categorized as “exceptional events”; instead, they are treated the same as factory emissions in EPA evaluations for compliance with federal emissions standards. 

It is counterproductive to regulate emissions from wildfire mitigation activities differently than naturally occurring wildfires. Such red tape around air quality results in permitting delays, regulatory confusion, fewer jobs, skyrocketing costs, and increased burdens on states, energy producers, and manufacturers.

House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to make air quality planning more predictable, get rid of unnecessary regulatory burdens, and stop punishing states for proactive wildfire mitigation that defends public health and safety and enhances future air quality.

Rep. Gabe Evans’ legislation, H.R. 6387, the Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events (FIRE) Act, amends the Clean Air Act to make sure communities and manufacturers are not penalized for emissions from wildfires, prescribed burns, and other exceptional events when determining compliance with national air quality standards.

House Republicans are continuing to work to modernize air quality regulations and reduce bureaucracy that delays projects, strangles job growth, and drives costs up while supporting clean air. 

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Eliminating Duplicative and Burdensome Environmental Reviews

Under Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is mandated to review and comment on the environmental impacts of federal projects and actions outlined in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) prepared by other agencies to evaluate compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Typically, the EPA has already been involved throughout the NEPA review process and preparation of the EIS, making this secondary review redundant and inefficient. Additionally, since Congress passed Section 309 thirty years ago, many agencies have developed their own expertise preparing EISs. 

Conducting duplicative reviews doesn’t help protect the environment – it only slows the review process, delays project development, spikes costs, and puts American jobs at risk by adding costly and unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. 

Furthermore, in 2025, the Supreme Court narrowed NEPA’s scope in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition vs. Eagle County, Colorado, by ruling that NEPA does not require federal agencies to analyze environmental impacts outside their regulatory control. This decision makes NEPA’s secondary review even more unnecessary and inappropriate.

House Republicans are bringing legislation to get rid of the EPA’s redundant and burdensome review requirement, streamlining permitting and unleashing economic growth while preserving action agencies’ authority to carry out environmental impact analysis.

H.R. 6398, the Reducing and Eliminating Duplicative Environmental Regulations (RED Tape) Act, sponsored by Rep. John Joyce, streamlines the review process for federal projects by eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency’s duplicative review requirement on projects already reviewed by other agencies and covered by the National Environmental Policy Act.

We won’t stop fighting to gut costly, redundant, and unnecessary bureaucracy that slows the environmental review process and delays project development, hurting American families and businesses.