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Libertarian-leaning Republicans are holding up a defense appropriations bill until they get amendments through that will block funding for any military operations in either Syria or Egypt and for dragnet-style NSA surveillance.<\/p>\n
Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) is leading a group of fellow congressmen to amend the impending Defense Appropriations bill to include language “that would ban the NSA from collecting information from people who aren\u2019t under investigation.”<\/p>\n
National Review<\/a>:<\/p>\n GOP leadership keeps stalling, showing the push is putting Speaker John Boehner in a bind. The House Rules Committee, which will decide whether the amendment gets a vote on the floor, delayed its proceedings yesterday for the second time this week. The underlying bill, the Department of Defense Appropriations bill, has also been expected on the floor for the past several weeks but keeps getting pushed back.<\/p>\n The catch is, if the Rules Committee doesn\u2019t allow a vote on the amendment, Amash and a coalition of Republicans and Democrats probably have the votes to bring the whole bill down. To do so, they could vote against the \u201crule,\u201d which governs debate for the bill. Those are typically party-line votes, so only a few Republicans would need to join the Democrats to defeat it.<\/p>\n Joining with Amash are conservative Republican representatives Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky as well as liberal Democratic representatives Jared Polis of Colorado and John Conyers of Michigan. Conyers is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n Amash says the amendment could get widespread support in a roll call vote. \u201cThe coalition is much broader than just libertarian-leaning conservatives and liberals. If you talk to members from across the political spectrum you\u2019ll find widespread disapproval of what the NSA is doing,\u201d he says, adding \u201cour effort is not aimed at overseas spying operations that are legitimate and constitutional.\u201d It\u2019s the\u00a0\u201ccollection of all Americans\u2019 phone records here in the United States\u201d that he opposes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Amash has been taking to Twitter to gum up support for the amendment:<\/p>\n Without Amash-Conyers-Massie-Mulvaney-Polis Amendment, DoD Approps will continue to fund unconstitutional #NSA<\/a> theft of your personal data.<\/p>\n — Justin Amash (@justinamash) July 22, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n