The House is divided over almost everything. But FISA Court reform might be able to unite it.

While the government remains shut down because Congress can't agree to keep it funded, a Democrat and a Republican are asking their colleagues to support legislation to bring more transparency to the process for approving NSA surveillance programs. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to their colleagues asking them to join in co-sponsoring companion legislation to the FISA Court Reform Act (S.1467) introduced in the upper chamber by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) this summer.

Their legislation would create an Office of the Constitutional Advocate led by a citizen's advocate appointed by the judicial branch who would argue for civil liberties in the FISA Court process. It was also incorporated into the bipartisan proposal introduced by Blumenthal and Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Udall (D-CO) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). "The basic idea behind the bill is that both sides of an argument should be represented before the FISA court," explained Van Hollen. "We believe the FISA court should head the position advanced by the intelligence agencies, but they should also hear from a citizen's advocate whose main purpose is to determine if individual's rights are being adequately protected." Similarly, Jordan argued that an "adversarial" approach with checks and balances was an appropriate reform approach for the FISA Court consistent with the "American system."