WASHINGTON — Key House Republicans expressed uncertainty Wednesday over whether there would be enough GOP support to clear a procedural vote on a powerful surveillance authority, a program that’s received staunch criticism from privacy advocates in the conference.

House GOP leadership has set a floor strategy Wednesday that would leave little room for Republican defections, as lawmakers look to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before the program’s statutory authority expires next week.

Lawmakers on Wednesday are expected to vote on a rule that outlines guidelines for floor debate. Rule votes are typically party line.

The House Rules Committee, after a long recess Tuesday night, ultimately approved a rule for floor consideration of the measure that does not leave room for amendments. Notably, conservative Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., were absent from the final vote on the rule.

The lawmakers, some heading to a House GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning, expressed uncertainty about what would happen later in the day and whether there were enough votes to adopt the rule.

“We should. We’ll see,” House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said.

When asked what might be offered to some of the Republicans who might vote against the rule, Crawford said: “That’s between me and the GOP holdouts.”

Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., entering the conference meeting, said: “I’m coming down here to hear what the plan is.”

Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, who has called for a warrant requirement, was among those who said he didn’t think Republicans have the votes to adopt the rule.

“I don’t think we’re close to passing a rule,” Cloud said. “There’s a lot of people not happy with where we’re at.”

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said “we’ll find out” if a rule would be adopted Wednesday. He expressed confidence that lawmakers would pass a Section 702 reauthorization by April 20, when the statutory authority expires.

Jordan said he’s making the case for reauthorizing it now, considering the changes that happened in the last reauthorization, even though he previously backed changing the program to include a warrant requirement.

“It’s a whole different program now. Look, it’s [a] short-term reauthorization,” Jordan said. “We’re talking months instead of years.”

“So I’m comfortable when the commander in chief asks for that in the middle of [a] military operation in Iran,” Jordan said.

And if there are problems with the program, he said, lawmakers can continue to do oversight.

Section 702 allows the U.S. government to collect digital communications of foreigners located outside the country.

But the program is controversial because it also sweeps up the communications of Americans and allows the FBI to search through data without a warrant, using information such as an email address.

President Donald Trump asserted Tuesday in a social media post that the House should pass a clean extension of the law, but some conservative Republicans took issue with the approach and want to see amendments to address a number of privacy concerns.

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—Lia Chen contributed to this report.

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