House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated that Democrats would not assist GOP leaders in advancing legislation extending the government’s surveillance powers.

This comes after a coalition of conservative Republicans and Democrats blocked a rule governing a bipartisan proposal to renew a controversial section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and other GOP bills.

Jeffries dismissed the idea of Democrats supporting a stand-alone FISA bill, eliminating one potential solution to break the impasse.

Speaker Mike Johnson is exploring other options, including putting the FISA bill on the suspension calendar or revising its language to address concerns from conservative critics, The Hill reported.

One proposed change is shortening the Section 702 reauthorization window from five years to two, although Jeffries refrained from expressing support until discussing with top Democrats on relevant committees.

Written by B.C. Begley